The Heroes of Xiangyang
by christos200
Summary: All characters (except for the new ones) belong to Jin Yong. Got inspiration for this from Cheh Chang's Marco Polo and the claim of Marco Polo in his book that he was responsible for teaching the Mongols how to build and use catapults during the siege of Xiangyang. This can also be seen as a bridge between Return of the Condor Heroes and Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
1. Part 1

All characters (except for the new ones) belong to Jin Yong. Got inspiration for this from Cheh Chang's Marco Polo and the claim of Marco Polo in his book that he was responsible for teaching the Mongols how to build and use catapults during the siege of Xiangyang (and yes, I know that the Muslims were the ones who created the catapults and that Marco Polo had not come to China yet).

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 1:**

_Beijing, Palace of Kublai Khan_

It is 1267 A.D. and Kublai Khan rules over the largest Empire the world has ever seen. Genghis Khan, the great Warlord, had united the feuding Mongol tribes and build the largest land Empire the world had ever seen. Kublai Khan, successor of Genghis Khan, in his eternal wisdom has decided to allow foreigners to come to his court and be allowed to serve him. One of those men in Marco Polo. A Venetian merchant once, now he is a Mongol Officer. Kublai had been impressed by Marco Polo's character and appearance, when he first met him six years ago, and he gave him the mission to travel through the Mongol Empire and give him information about the people and the land, as well as travel in neighboring countries, like the Song Empire and Indo-China, to get information that could be useful for the Mongol military. Not only that, but Kublai gave him his Imperial Seal and the power to execute Mongol Governors who abused their powers and ruled like independent Kings. Now, after six years of traveling, Marco Polo has returned to Beijing to see his friend and Khan, Kublai. Marco Polo is a relative young man, tall, with long black hair, blue eyes and a short black beard. He wears a red coat and a fur hat. Underneath the coat, Marco wears a shirt-like undergarment with long, wide sleeves, made of silver. When Marco enters Kublai's palace, he finds the Khan sitting on his throne. Kublai looks more like a sympathetic old man, with his long beard, than a terrifying Warlord. Kublai is middle-aged, with a long black beard and scars in his face. He wears a yellow robe made of silver and decorated with gems. Marco bows before the Great Khan.

_"My friend."_ Kublai says with a soft voice and talking more like a like a friend than a monarch calling his subject. _"Get up."_

_"Thank you, my lord."_ Marco Polo says while rising.

_"I have read the report you send me."_

_"And what do you think?"_

Marco Polo is anxious over what the Khan will say about his report. He had traveled for six long years all over the Mongol Empire, as well as in Tibet, the Song Empire, Indo-China and many other places all over East Asia. During his travels, Marco Polo had seen many wonders, met new gods and new religions and philosophies, as well as new technologies. He hopes that the Khan will be pleased with his report.

_"It will help me a lot in ruling this Empire. Your report is full of customs of many peoples and lands that I have never even heard of. Now, I know a lot more about the people and the lands that I rule. Not only that, but I now also know many more things about the lands of my enemies. Your report about the lands of the Song Empire was the most interesting. It will help me in my upcoming campaign against the Song Empire. This time, even 100 Guo Jings will not be able to stop my war machine."_

_"It is my honor that I could help you, sir." _Marco Polo replies, with a smile in his face. He is relieved that the Khan liked his report. He knows that in order to survive in the Mongol Court, he needs to have the trust of Kublai. And with his report, he had truly gained the trust of Kublai.

_"Marco, I also have an other mission for you."_

_"What is that mission, sir?" _Marco Polo asks, worried and anxious.

_"Well, I want you to assist General Wu Chi Zhang in his campaign against the Song Dynasty. I want you to help him take over Xiangyang, the most vital city of the Song Empire. If it falls, then the Song Empire will fall. Your knowledge of the terrain and of besieging technology, that you gained in your travels, will help General Wu a lot in his mission. Talk to him for more details. "_

_"I will, sir."_

_"You may leave now."_

_"Thank you sir."_

A few minutes later, Marco arrives at the barracks of General Wu Chi Zhang. The barracks are outside the city, and are surrounded by a huge Stone Wall. Inside the Stone Wall, there are countless of Mongolian Gers. As Marco Polo walks in the barracks, a Mongol soldier, armed with a long iron spear, approaches him.

_"Who are you and what do you want?" _the soldier asks.

_"I am Marco Polo and in the name of his Imperial Highness, I wish to speak with General Wu Chi Zhang!" _Marco Polo replies while at the same time showing the Imperial Seal of Kublai.

_"Follow me, sir."_

Marco Polo is escorted by the Mongol soldier to General Wu's Ger. His Ger is decorated with the symbols of the four powerful beasts (lion, tiger, garuda and dragon), as well as stylized representations of the five elements (fire, water, earth, metal, and wood). Wu is about 26 years old. Wu is handsome and very very muscular, with a sturdy and strong stature, long black hair and some light beard. He wears a heavy coat fastened at the waist by a leather belt. From the belt hangs his sword, as well as a dagger. This long robe-like coat doubles over, left breast over right, and is secured with a button a few inches below the right armpit. The coat is lined with fur. Underneath the coat, Wu wears an armor composed of small scales of iron and chain mail sewn together with leather tongs. Wu also has boots made from felt and leather, and though heavy, they are comfortable and wide enough to accommodate the trousers tucked in before lacing tightly.

_"So, you are the famous Marco Polo, right?" _Wu asks, disappointed. He had expected a more muscular and heroic appearance for someone who had traveled almost the whole of East Asia for more than six years.

_"Yes, I am Marco Polo."_

_"His Imperial Majesty should have explained to you that your mission is to help me with the Siege of Xiangyang and the conquest of the Song Empire. Your knowledge of the land and the people will be very useful to me."_

_"I will be happy to help you."_

_"That's good. I hope that we shall be able to work together well."_

_"That is my hope too."_

_"Good. You may leave now. You must prepare for the campaign."_


	2. Part 2

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 2:**

_Beijing, Kublai Khan's Palace, Marco Polo's room_

Marco Polo is lying on his bed and resting. He remembers how 8 years ago, he begun his journey to China, along with his father, Niccolò Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo. He had not seen his father and his uncle for 6 whole years. How fast time passed! As Marco Polo thinks of this, he brings back past memories, memories from his journey to China.

_8 years ago, Venice, house of the Polo family_

Venice is the richest city of the world. The Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constantinople have given much wealth to the Republic. Crete, the Aegean and the Ionian Islands, once part of Romania (Ρωμανία), the Greek Empire, are now colonies of the Republic. Venetian merchants have become the richest in the world, and they try to find new trade routes to Asia to become even richer. One of those Venetian merchants is Niccolò Polo. Niccolò, a middle-aged man with long black beard, short hair and blue eyes, and dressed with a hose and a brown jacket with pleating, brings news that could make him and his family the richest in Venice. Niccolò is talking with Maffeo Polo, his brother, also a middle aged man who is dressed in the same way as Niccolò, only that he wears a black jacket instead of a brown one, in his room. The room is a small, wooden one.

_"Maffeo, I have good news."_ Niccolò says with excitement and almost dancing because of his happiness. _"The Pope has send us oil from the lamp of Jerusalem and has given to us permission to travel in his name to the court of the Great Khan!"_

_"Good. Niccolò, this could make us rich!" _Maffeo replies with a loud voice and almost crying because of how happy he is. _"With the pretext of a religious mission, we could establish a trade route to China. Just think how rich shall we become! Our enemies will fear our power and the Venetian people will adore us!"_

_"Calm down. In order to do this, we first need to go to China. And the journey to China will be long and dangerous. We will be very lucky if we are able to get to China alive."_

_"Anyway, have the monks Kublai Khan asked us to send to him agreed to come with us?"_

_"No, they are all cowards. But we will go to China anyway."_

As the two brothers talk, the son of Niccolò, Marco Polo, a young man in his 20's, comes to the room. Marco Polo has always been a person that loves adventure, and he is very curious about meeting new lands and new peoples. He had heard many times the stories of his father about China and he always wanted to go to China and learn if those things his father told him were true.

_"Father, shall I come with you to China?" _Marco asks his father, anxious over the answer of his father. Marco knows that his father will most likely refuse to take him with him to China.

_"No!" _Niccolò shouts, angry with his son for being so reckless, at least according to his opinion._ "The journey to China will be very dangerous."_

_"But father, I want to go. I want to know if all those things you told me about China are true. I want to see this strange land by myself."_

_"You know that you could die? The journey will not be an easy one."_

_"I know. But still, I want to come with you. What good is to live a life in ignorance?"_

Before Niccolò can reply, Maffeo interrupts him.

_"Let him come with us. He is not a boy anymore. He is a man, and he can make his own decisions. After all, did you not begun your own dangerous journeys at his age?"_

_"Ah! I will allow him to come with us." _Niccolò replies with disappointment and sighing.

And so, the journey of the Polo family to the East begins. A few days later, the three Polos embark a ship and begin their long and dangerous journey. They pass through the Venetian colonies in the Aegean Sea and land first to Cyprus and then to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, the Polos begin a year and a half long journey through Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. They cross deserts and rich cities. They walk day and night. Some times, the thirst and heat of the Middle Eastern deserts almost kills them. But they continue their journey. They have to reach China and they have to meet Kublai Khan. This is the chance of their life to become rich, very rich, rich beyond dreams. At least for Niccolò and Maffeo, who as traditional Venetian merchants, only think of how to become wealthy and gain riches. Marco Polo dreams instead of the new lands and peoples he will meet, the new religions, the new philosophies. He had been told stories about China from his father since he was young, and he wants to know if they are true. Those are the reasons which motivate the young Marco, not wealth and riches. However, those motives and an iron will alone may not be enough for someone to survive the dangerous journey.

_East Kazakhstan, __Bukhtarma River, one and a half years since the Polos left Venice  
_

The Polos, after a long journey, have finally crossed all the deserts of the Middle East and are now in the grasslands of East Kazakhstan, near the Bukhtarma River. However, as they pass through a small village, Maffeo begins to doubt that they will ever see China. They have traveled for so long, they have risked their lives again and again, and yet, according to Maffeo, they have not seen any sign that China is near.

_"Niccolò" _Maffeo says to his brother, as they and Marco walk through the small village._ "My brother, we have been traveling for almost two years and we still have not been able to reach China."_

_"We will be in China soon. Do not lose your hope!" _Niccolò replies with a loud voice and trying to keep calm. Even his brother, Niccolò thinks, does not believe in him.

_"But we have been walking for so long, and we have yet to see China. And after so many deserts, you say to me that there still another huge desert, __Taklamakan?! And then, we have the Gobi Desert?! And then, who knows what else?!"_

Marco, until then, was quite, but now he has decided to speak. He has to persuade his uncle not to lose his hopes and continue the journey, or else all this journey would have been made in vain.

_"Uncle, think of the riches we could find in China. Think of the trade route we could establish. Think of the wealth we could make!"  
_

_"Damn you, boy! You persuaded me! You know that I love riches, and you use it! I just hope that you and your father are right."_

Suddenly, as Maffeo speaks, Marco falls on the ground unconscious, and both Maffeo and Niccolò shout Marco's name and also shout for help.


	3. Part 3

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 3:**

_Six days later, in a small wooden house_

Six days after his collapse in the streets of the small local village in East Kazakhstan, Marco Polo wakes up and finds himself lying on a bed inside a small wooden house and being watched by a Persian man. The man is tall and dark-skinned with a black beard and a mustache. He wears a long black tunic, a brown cloak and a white turban.

_"Who...who..are you?" _Marco tries to ask.

_"So you have waken_ _up!"_ the man replies._ "Your father and your uncle will be very happy. I am Mahmet, a doctor from Persia. I was passing by this village and for your good luck, your father found me just in time. You collapsed because of your exhaustion from your long and dangerous journey."_

_"Thank you for your help."  
_

_"There is no need to thank me. About your illness, you just need some rest. I have told your father that I am willing to take care of you while they travel to China."_

_"No, I have to go to China! I cannot be left here! I must see China with my own eyes!"_

_"You still want to go to China with your father?" _Mahmet asks, surprised with the iron will of Marco to go to China. _"Go and pray to Allah ____and thank_ that you are still alive. You know how much further you have to go, and what kind of welcome you are going to get? Kublai may execute you!"

_"The Pope himself blessed our journey. We have oil from the lamp of Jerusalem."_

_"The Pope may be a great man in his own lands, but Kublai Khan rules over a vast empire that even the Great Alexander never dreamed of! What has your backward uncivilized world to offer to him? What has your father to offer that he needs?"_

_"When my father came back from his first journey to China, no one believed him. They all said that what he was talking about was nothing more but travel tales."_

_"So, you want to prove them wrong?" _

Mahmet pauses for a few seconds, and then continues.

_"Or is it something else? You want to see for yourself if he spoke the truth?"_

A few days later, the Polo family continues it's journey to China. They ride on top of their camels for many days and they finally reach the Taklamakan desert. When they were about to enter the desert, Niccolò said _"Taklamakan. Means you go in, but you don't come out. The nearest well is 45 days journey away. With no villages or shade. After this desert, there is an other desert, which is even worse, the Gobi. There is no way to go around them. We have to go straight across."_

And indeed, the journey is harsh. They ride with their camels in the desert and try to drink as little water as possible, because if their water is finished, they will not find any for many weeks. However, the lack of water is not the only problem they face in Taklamakan desert. Because it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, Taklamakan is a paradigmatic cold desert climate. Given its relative proximity with the cold to frigid air masses in Siberia, it is very cold, with a temperature of −20 °C (−4 °F). So, the Polos struggle to not die of cold. They sleep only a few hours, because of the fear that they would be frozen to death. But the climate is not their only problem.

_32 days since the Polos begun their journey in the __Taklamakan_

The Polos have decided to camp for the night and rest a bit. They sleep only a few hours to avoid being frozen to death, so most of the time they rest, they either talk to each other or read a book. While Maffeo and Niccolò are talking to each other, Marco writes a book. Niccolò, who had seen many times Marco writing in the book, decides to ask him about it.

_"What is this?"_

_"A journal" _Marco replies._ "I record the route from which we came here and the things we see."_

_"We are merchants. You do better work on your ____arithmetic_."

Suddenly, Maffeo grabs the book from the hands of Marco, who is surprised by his uncle's action.

_"If" _Maffeo says _"someone finds it and uses our route to make himself richer than us, then how would you feel?"_

Marco grabs back the book from his uncle, but Maffeo continues talking to his nephew.

_"Knowledge is power, Marco. And power leads to wealth. That's why we are here. So that the Polo family becomes the gatekeepers to the riches of China."_

_"Books" _Niccolò says _"can be the most dangerous things in the world, Marco."_

But, suddenly, the three of them hear the sound of horses and the voices of several men shouting _"__Allahu Akbar"_. Niccolò recognizes this sound and knows what it means.

_"Run!" _Niccolò shouts. _"They are Muslim desert nomads. They are under the control of several Muslim Warlords. They capture travelers and sell them as slaves. Run!"_

The three men try to run as fast they can, but they are surround by the cavalry of the nomads. The nomads all ride white horses and wear black cloaks and white turbans. One of them shouts _"Surrender or we shall kill you!"_

The Polos have no choice but to allow themselves to be captured and be tied. They are taken to the nomad's camp. The camp of the nomads, despite being in the middle of a deadly desert, is very well organized. The camp is protected by a small wooden wall, and inside there are countless tents. As the Polos are being taken by their captives inside the camp, they see nomad soldiers drinking whine and eating meat beside the fire, as well as other captives being taken to tents. Maffeo and Niccolò are taken by the nomad soldiers to the eastern part of the camp, while Marco is taken to the western. There, they put Marco inside a small tent and they tie him to a wooden pole.

_"You!" _Marco shouts at the soldiers. _"Let me free if you are real men."_

Instead of a reply, the soldiers beat up Marco until he is unconscious and bleeding. When Marco regains his senses a few hours later, he sees a woman coming towards him. The woman is wearing abaya, a dark cloak for women which covers all of her body, and is decorated with colored embroidery and sequins.

_"I have brought you something to eat." _the woman says with a soft voice that shows that she is young.

_"Thanks." _Marco replies, while grabbing the bowl with soup given to him by the woman. After eating for a few seconds, Marco asks the woman about his father and his uncle.

_"Do you know what the other two middle-aged men are doing?"_

_"They are well. Do not worry. You know, I feel sad that my father has captured you to be sold to slavery. But I do not know how to help you, without my father punishing me."_

_"Place a dagger beside me and leave."_

The woman indeed places a dagger beside Marco and leaves. A few minutes later, a guard comes in. The guard is not armed, but has a sword hanging from his belt. This is the chance Marco has been waiting for.

_"You bastard!" _Marco shouts. _"If you are a real man untie me and beat me in one against one unarmed combat. But of course, since you are a chicken and not a real man, you will not do it! You are a shame to your family!"_

The guard, furious, unties Marco. Once he is free, Marco, before the guard can realize it, grabs the dagger that the woman left beside him and stabs the man on the stomach. He then grabs the sword that is hanging in the man's belt and uses it to cut off the guard's head. Marco then undresses the guard and wears his clothes. _"It's show time!" _Marco says and gets out of the tent.


	4. Part 4

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 4:**

_Taklamakan, Nomad's camp_

Marco Polo, free from captivity, armed with a sword and dressed with the guard's clothes, tries to find and free his father and his uncle. He had seen that they were taken to the eastern part of the camp, but he does not know in which tent they are held. So, he decides to ask a guard.

_"Hey!" _Marco shouts. _"Where are the two elderly prisoners held?"_

_"Why do you want to know?" _the guard, suspicious, asks. _"Also, you voice is not very familiar! Who are-"_

Before the guard can ask, Marco stabs his sword on the man's stomach, killing him. _"I will ask an other guard" _he says to himself. As he walks to the eastern part of the camp, he hears a woman's voice.

_"Have you escaped?" _the woman asks.

Marco pulls out his sword and looks around. For his good luck, instead of guards, he sees the woman that had left the dagger beside him.

_"So, it is you. Thank you for your help."_

_"Quickly!" _the woman, clearly worried, replies. _"Follow me to my tent."_

Marco follows the woman to her tent. Her tent is decorated with several paintings of animals, mostly wolfs and condors. Marco sits to the floor, which is decorated with an elegant Persian carpet. The woman takes off her veil and Marco sees her face. Her face is the most beautiful he had ever seen. She has a young face and a skin that is as white as snow.

_"I...I..." _Marco tries to speak, but he cannot say anything.

_"You know" _she says _"why I saved you?"_

_"No.."_

_"Because from the first time I saw you, I fell in love with you. However, I know that soon you will free your relatives and you shall leave, and I might never see you again. So, I wanted to show you my face, so you could remember me forever. I have only one request: that you will never forget my love for you." _

As the woman talks, Marco can see tears in her face.

_"I thank you for your help, and I promise you that I shall never forget you."_

_"Now, go and save your relatives. They are held in the seventh tent of the eastern part of the camp. Goodbye."_

_"Goodbye. And I will never forget you."_

Using the woman's information, Marco manages to free his father and his uncle and the three of them escape under the cover of darkness. And so, the Polos continue their journey to China. After many months, the finally reach Shangdu, Kublai Khan's Summer Palace, in Inner Mongolia, 350 kilometers (220 mi) north of Beijing.

_Shangdu, Kublai Khan's Summer Palace_

When Marco sees the Palace of the Great Khan, he is so impressed that he cannot find words to describe the magnificence of the Palace, which is made by very fine marble. Around this Palace, there is a wall, inclosing a compass of 16 miles, and inside the Park there are fountains and rivers and brooks, and beautiful meadows, with all kinds of wild animals. Moreover at a spot in the Park, Kublai Khan has another Palace built of cane. It is gilt all over, and most elaborately finished inside. It is stayed on gilt and lacquered columns, on each of which is a dragon all gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column whilst the head supports the architrave, and the claws likewise are stretched out right and left to support the architrave.

Once the Polos enter the marble Palace, they find Kublai Khan sitting on his golden throne and wearing a yellow robe made of silver and decorated with gems. His Empire makes those of the Romans and Alexander the Great look like dots in the map. The Polos bow before the might of the Great Khan.

_"So, have you returned with what I have asked you?" _Kublai asks, angry that he does not see any monks.

For a few seconds, Niccolò and Maffeo look at each other. Niccolò, then, decides to reply.

_"My lord, we have brought to you oil from the lamp of Jerusalem in the name of the Pope."_

_"What about the monks I asked you to send to me?"_

_"I...they decided not to come with us in our journey, because is its too dangerous."_

_"What!? I asked you to bring me one thing, and you bring an other. Anyway, is this... oil a token of submission of the Pope to me? Did you bring me that too?"_

_"That is not in our power, my Lord. We are just merchants."_

Before Niccolò can continue, Marco interrupts him.

_"The Pope and the nations of the West have heard of your Empire. And as long as they believe that they could turn you on their religion, you have nothing to fear from them."_

_"How old are you to have such wisdom, boy?" _Kublai asks, surprised that such a young man has so great intelligence.

_"Twenty-two, your Imperial Highness."_

_"It seems that you are a very wise man, despite being very young. You remind me of the Great Genghis Khan, who also started his conquests at a very young age. Maybe, you could stay here, in my court. Maybe, your wisdom can be helpful to me."_

Marco thinks for a few seconds. This is the chance of his life. The chance to discover the civilization, the peoples, the lands, the wonders of China. He must not lose his chance. And so, Marco takes his decision.

_"I would be more than happy to serve you, my Lord."_

Niccolò, however, does not like this.

_"Great Khan, my son is too young and he speaks nonsense. Please, do not take his words seriously."_

_"But, he is a man. He is old enough to be able to decide by himself. So, what do you think, boy?"_

Both Niccolò and Kublai look at Marco. For a few seconds, Marco does not reply. But, then, he decides what he wants.

_"I am sorry, father, but I will stay here to serve the Great Khan."_

Niccolò, with tears in his eyes, embraces Marco. Then, he and Maffeo leave for Europe.

_Shangdu, Kublai Khan's Summer Palace, Marco Polo's room_

A month has passed since Marco came to China and decided to serve the Great Khan. Marco is now reading a book in his room, when he hears someone knocking the door. When he opens the door, he sees two Mongol soldiers bringing an one armed man. The man is short, with short hair and a ponytail, and only one arm, his left arm. He wears a black Hanfu, which has long and loose sleeves and grey collars diagonally crossing each other, with the left crossing over the right, and black cotton shoes.

_"Officer, why did you bring this man to me?" _Marco, who is very curious, asks.

_"He is a gift of the Great Khan to you. A slave."_

_"But.._" Marco tries to say. Marco does not believe that it is right to have slaves and does not want one.

_"The Great Khan does not like it when his gifts are not accepted."_

_"Very well. Bring him in."_

Once the two Mongol soldiers bring him in, they leave.

_"So, who are you?" _Marco asks_._

_"I am just a slave." _the man replies, sighing and wanting to curse his fate that he has been given as a slave to a Barbarian.

_"I meant...what is your name?"_

_"Lung Xeng."_

_"I am pleased to meet you."_

_"Me too."_

_"Why are you a slave?"_

_"I was captured years ago by the army of Great Khan."_

_"I hope that we will be able to trust each other and become friends, instead of being master and slave."_

And indeed, the two men would become great friends. A few days later, Kublai Khan asks Marco Polo to travel through the Mongol Empire, as well to all of East Asia, and give him information about the lands, the peoples and the customs of those areas. He also gives to Marco his Imperial Seal and allows him to execute governors who abuse their power.

_Six years later, Beijing, Marco's room_

As Marco is lying on his bed and thinking of how he came to China, he hears someone knocking the door. He opens the door and finds out that it is Lung Xeng.

_"My friend!" _Marco says. _"What brings you here?"_

_"General Wu Chi Zhang asked for you."_

_"What does he want me to do?"_

_"He wants to introduce you to some people chosen by the Khan to accompany you and help you in the takeover of Xiangyang and the conquest of the Song Dynasty."_


	5. Part 5

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 5:**

_Beijing, Palace of Kublai Khan, Throne room_

Kublai Khan is sitting on his golden throne. Kublai's power awes all under Heaven and his realm is the vastest in the world. However, even such a great man has advisers to help him in his quest to dominate the world. One of them is Cao Song, an able military strategist who has proved himself many times. As Kublai sits on his golden throne, Cao Song rushes inside the throne room and bows before the might of the Great Khan. Cao Song is a middle aged man with a short black beard, a mustache and green eyes. He wears a full-cut red robe with a square, depicting a tiger, stretching from side to side, completely covering his chest and back.

_"My lord!" _Cao shouts, worried and in a hurry. _"I call you to reconsider your invasion of the Song Dynasty!"_

_"Oh!" _Kublai says while rolling his whiskers between his fingers. _"Why should I do this?"_

_"My lord, you were able to become the Great Khan only three years ago, in 1264, and only after defeating in battle your younger brother Ariq Böke. You still have many enemies and you have not secured your power yet. __Abaqa Khan, who rules over the Persian_ _Ilkhanate, is hostile and tries to form alliances against you. Many Mongol aristocrats do not truly support you. A defeat, which is very likely, considering the fact that all previous Mongol invasions failed to take over Xiangyang and in the last invasion your own brother, Möngke Khan, was killed by Yang Guo, and the fact that Xiangyang is protected by the Han river, has lot of supplies stored and is led by Guo Jing, a very able military leader, could lead to an open rebellion, not to say that it would encourage several Central Asian warlords to form an alliance with Abaqa. In my opinion, you should first secure more your position before trying to take over the Song Dynasty."_

_"What you say, Cao, is right. However, in order to prove myself and to gain the support and loyalty of all Mongol aristocrats, as well as to discourage the Central Asian warlords from forming an alliance with Abaqa, I need a military victory. A great military victory that even my illustrious grandfather, the Great Genghis, could not achieve. And that military victory should be the conquest of the Song Empire. __Sure, Xiangyang is a formidable fortress, which has many supplies stored, has an able leader, Guo Jing, and I know that all previous Mongol attempts to take over the city have failed, but I have prepared an army and navy far more huge and better trained and equipped than __all of my predecessors. I have over 100,000 infantry, __5,000 trebuchets and 5,000 ships with 70,000 marines._ _I am sure that my army will be able to achieve what other Mongolian armies have failed to achieve. Also, now that I have mobilized my army and prepared the campaign, I cannot just cancel it. It is better to be seen as a defeated ruler than a coward."_

Suddenly, the two men hear a voice saying _"Indeed, my lord." _The man talking is Ma Fang, a military strategist of the Khan, who is very able and on par with Cao. He is also middle-aged and with a black beard, and wears the same clothing as Cao, only that the square in his robe depicts a wolf instead of a tiger.

_"My lord is very right."_ Ma continues. _"He needs a military victory to secure his position. Also, as he has already prepared a campaign, he cannot just cancel it. His soldiers and generals will then see his Imperial Majesty as a coward and he will lose the loyalty and trust of his already few supporters. So, it will be a disastrous political mistake to cancel the campaign. Not to say that our victory is guaranteed. Sure, Guo Jing is an able leader, but he is just a simple man. Wars are fought with armies. If Guo Jing's army is either defeated in the field of battle or demoralized after a long siege, then Guo Jing will be unable to do anything to prevent the fall of the Song Dynasty. He is just a man, he cannot fight on his own an entire army. And that leads us to an other question: will we be able to defeat Guo Jing's army? Or the military skills of Guo Jing and the bravery of his men shall rout us again? The answer is that we hold all the advantages. The current Song Emperor is a fool and a coward and will not send reinforcements to the city. There is discord is the court. The men of Guo Jing are very few, only 8,000 regular soldiers. The volunteers from the 200,000 citizens of the city, although they are many and brave, they are untrained and can easily be defeated by our soldiers. Our navy is huge and this time we can blockade the Han river with our 5,000 ships strong navy. We also have many supplies. So, even if they fortify for years inside the city, then we can just wait until they either starve to death or surrender. So, why avoid the campaign, my lord, when all factors point that we are going to emerge victorious?" _

_"For all those reasons" _Kublai replies_ "I have decided to start the campaign against the Song. You two, go to General Wu Chi Zhang. You will go with him to the south and help him and Marco Polo to take over Xiangyang."_

_A few minutes later, outside of the Imperial Palace_

Marco Polo arrives outside the Imperial Palace to meet General Wu and the men that will assist him in his mission to take over Xiangyang and subdue the Song Dynasty. When he arrives, he sees Wu waiting along with Cao, Ma and two other men. The other two men are Akiramou Yashatori and Arikhgiya. Akiramou is a tall and very muscular blind man. He wears a black kimono, which is wrapped around his body in several layers, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. A Katana sword, with a length of 73 cm (28 1⁄2 in), is hanging on his belt. Arikhgiya is dressed in the same way as Wu, with a heavy coat and underneath an armor composed of small scales of iron and chain mail sewn together with leather tongs. Wu decides to introduce the men to Marco.

_"Marco, those two" _Wu says while pointing at Cao and Ma _"are the advisers of the Khan. They are the famous Cao Song and Ma Fang. They are both great military strategists. They will help us with our conquest of the south."_

_"I am glad to meet you." _Marco replies while bowing before Cao and Ma.

Wu then points to Arikhgiya.

_"While I, Cao and Ma are Han Chinese, Arikhgiya is a Mongol warrior and General from the steppes. He has proved again and again both his intelligence and wisdom, as well as his bravery. ____Arikhgiya is responsible for the logistics, the recruitment and training of our forces._"

Wu then points at Akiramou.

_"Akiramou is a great warrior and pugilist from Japan. His martial arts and swordsmanship are great, and he also has vast and profound internal strength. In my opinion, he is on par with Guo Jing and Yang Guo as a ____pugilist_."

_"I am glad to meet both of you." _Marco says.

_"Marco, do you want to come with me to examine the men?" _Arikhgiya asks.

_"Of course." _Marco replies. He then turns to others and says _"please excuse me."_

_A few minutes later, in the barracks_

Arikhgiya has prepared two regiments of the Mongolian army to march in front of Marco. Marco examines well the discipline and organization of the Mongol soldiers as they march before his eyes.

_"Our forces are huge." _Arikhgiya says. _"We have 100,000 __infantry, __5,000 trebuchets and 5,000 ships with 70,000 marines. Truly an amazing force."_

_"Indeed." _Marco replies_._

_"The Mongol cavalry, as you should know, is the best of the world, and with it the Great Genghis Khan conquered almost the whole world. But the terrain in the south and the Siege warfare means that we have little use for cavalry, so our main force is the infantry, composed mainly of spearmen and archers. Except for the ____5,000 trebuchets, which will help a lot in the siege of Xiangyang, we also have Guo Kan and his _Chinese artillery units, which serve in the Mongol army. Those units can prove very useful in the siege of Xiangyang. The time is up for the Song Dynasty and Guo Jing. The Heaven has taken away it's mandate from the Song Emperor and has given it to the Great Khan. A new Dynasty is to be established. We must defeat our enemies and accomplish the will of the Heaven."


	6. Part 6

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 6:**

_A few days later, Xiangyang, Marshall Lü Wenhuan's home, guests hall _

Marshall Lü Wenhuan is the Commander of all Song forces in Xiangyang and the one responsible with the defence of the city. He took his position after the death of his brother, Lü Wende. Although most of the Song soldiers and pugilists in the city follow the orders of Guo Jing and Guo Jing is the one who is the true leader of the military forces in Xiangyang, Marshall Lü still holds considerable influence. Marshall Lü is a tall man at his late 30's, with a black beard and wears a military armour, made from a multitude of small pieces of steel that are then interlocked and riveted to a leather backing, that covers the torso, the shoulders and the thighs while remaining comfortable and flexible enough to allow movement. Lü is discussing with Guo Jing the military situation of the city in the guests hall of his home. The two men sit in a table and drink wine while discussing. Guo Jing has thick eyebrows, large eyes, a long black beard, a sturdy and strong stature, and a complexion somewhere between dark and fair. He wears a blue robe made of silk. He is not young any more. He is in his late 50's, but he is still a great fighter.

_"So, Marshall Lü, do you have any news from the Imperial court?" _Guo asks. _"Will they send us reinforcements?"_

_"No." _Lü says with an expression of both anger and desperation. _"The court is in discord. They will not send us any help. If we are to defend against the upcoming Mongol invasion, we will have to make sure that the training of the volunteers will be completed as fast as possible and that you will be able to gather as many pugilists as possible."_

_"What have your spies told you about the enemy commanders?"_

_"The Mongol Army will be led by a Wu Chi Zhang, a Han Chinese."_

When he hears this, Guo hits his fist with immense power on the table and shouts in anger _"So a Han Chinese is leading the Mongol army to enslave the Han Chinese people?! I want to kill this traitor with my own hands!"_

_"This Wu" _Lü calmly continues _"is a very able General. Although he is very young, only 26 years old, he has shown his great skills during the civil war between Kublai Khan and his brother _ _Ariq Böke. He is brave, with a good grasp of both tactics and strategy. He is helped in his mission by many able people. The first of them is Marco Polo. He is Barbarian from the West, but he knows the terrain very well because he has been traveling, on orders by Kublai, in all of East Asia, including the Central Plain, and so he knows the terrain very well. Also, Wu will have the help from the two top military strategists of the Khan, Cao Song and Ma Fang. Both of them are Han Chinese and they are very able in military strategy. They are considered the top military experts in the world. Wu will also be helped by Arikhgiya, a Mongol general from the steppes. He is very brave and smart and he is responsible for the logistics and the training of the Mongol army. Finally, there is Akiramou, a pugilist from Japan. Although he is blind, he has developed his hearing so well, that he can locate an enemy with only the slightest sound. He is very good in martial arts and swordsmanship, not to say that he has great internal strength too. "_

As the two men discuss, a man rushes inside the guests hall and shouts _"Sir Guo, Yang Guo and Miss __Xiaolongnü have arrived at your home and are waiting at the guests hall." _

_"Very well." _Guo says. He then turns on Lü and says _"Please excuse me, but I have to leave."_

_"Of course, of course." _Lü replies. _"Send my greeting to the young hero Yang Guo."_

_A few minutes later, Guo Jing's guests hall_

After a few minutes, Guo Jing arrives at the guests hall and finds Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü waiting for him. Yang Guo is a tall one-armed man with long grey hair and wears a grey robe. Xiaolongnü has skin as white as snow and is beautiful and elegant beyond convention. She wears an ethereal white cloak.

_"Guo'er and Miss Long, I am so glad to see you here." _Guo Jing, with a smile in his face, says while embracing Yang Guo.

_"Uncle." _Yang replies. _"We came here to help you fight against the Mongol invaders. We will do our best to help you defeat the Mongols."_

_"Guo'er, all the people of Xiangyang will be grateful for your help. By the way, do you want to sit here to drink some wine and discuss?"_

_"Of course. Where are all the others?"_

_"Your Aunt (Huang Rong) will be coming in a few minutes, as well as Fu, Polu, Yelü and the Wu brothers."_

_"What about Xiang?"_

_"She not here. She is traveling with Reverend Yideng. She is helping him find some medical herbs."_

_A few moments later, Tiger village, five days journey from Xiangyang_

Guo Xiang and Reverend Yideng are in the Tiger village. They have found some medical herbs and now they are returning back to Xiangyang. However, they decide to stop on a small Buddhist shrine in the village to pray. Xiang is a young attractive woman wearing a pink robe, while Yideng is an old man who has his hair shaved in Buddhist manner and has a long white beard. He wears the yellow clothing that monks wear. Xiang is bowing before a golden statue of Buddha and makes two wishes.

_"Buddha, if you hear me, please grant me those two wishes. The first is that my parents are going to be in good health and the second that we will be able to defeat the Mongol invaders."_

_"Haha." _Yideng laughs. _"You really have a kind heart, Xiang. You only wish for the welfare of others."_

However, as Yideng and Xiang talk, a group of five men is approaching the shrine. The leader of the group is a very, very fat, tall man and the rest of them are muscular.

_"Look at this girl!" _the fat leader says to his comrades. _"Today she will be sleeping in my bed. Hahahahaha!"_

The five men enter the small Buddhist temple. One of them comes to close to Xiang and with a silly smile in his face, he says _"pretty girl, do you know that our leader likes you? Hahaha!"_

As the man laughs, Xiang slaps him on the face. The fat leader laughs at this and says _"I like girls that are wild. Hahaha!"_

Yideng approaches the fat man.

_"Buddha bless you. What do you want from us?"_

_"I want this girl to keep me company in my bed, old monk. Hahaha. But do not worry, if you cooperate, maybe I shall pity you and give you a girl too. Hahaha!"_

As the thugs laugh, a man enters inside the shrine. The man is young, just 20 years old, with short hair, ponytail and green eyes. He is tall and strong, but he is not very muscular. He wears a white shirt, black trousers and black cotton shoes.

_"So, you have a bed, Hong?" _the young man says referring to the fat leader. _"I though that every bed in which you tried to sleep would collapse because of the weight!"_

_"Chan, you bastard!" _Hong shouts._ "This time, I shall not let you escape! Men, attack!"_

Two men run towards Chan, but Chan kicks the first man on the face five times and he falls on the ground bleeding. The second man tries to attack Chan from the back, but Chan kicks him on his genetic organs with a powerful back kick and he then punches his right elbow on the man's face. Two of the man's teeth break and he collapse unconscious on the ground. Meanwhile a thug tries to attack Yideng, but he quickly closes his accupoints with ease. An other thug attacks Xiang with a kick, but Xiang grabs the man's leg and breaks it. Seeing this, Hong runs away. Xiang approaches Chan to thank him.

_"Thank you for your help."_

_"It's nothing. It is just my duty to help those in trouble."_

_"Since you say so" _Yideng says_ "why do you not come with us to Xiangyang to fight against the Mongols."_

_"Me?!" _Chan replies, surprised at the monk's request._ "You got the wrong person. I am not going to risk my life fighting for a fool Emperor who overtaxes me and most other citizens of the country in order to pay for his pleasures in the Palace. Also the Mongols this time prepare a huge invasion. Xiangyang shall not hold on."_

_"But, we fight for the freedom of the Han Chinese people, not the Emperor."_

_"Yeah, right!"_

_"Let's go!" _Xiang shouts, very angry at Chan's 'cowardliness'. _"And to think that I was beginning to like you and I would tell my father, Guo Jing, to take you as his student."_

At first Chan walks away from the temple, but when he realizes that Xiang is the daughter of Guo Jing, he rushes back to the temple shouting _"Wait for me! I want to help in the defence of Xiangyang!"_

_"We do not need you now!" _Xiang shouts.

_"But I want to help in the defence!"_

_"Since you want to defend the city, you can come with us." _Xiang replies with a smile in her face.


	7. Part 7

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 7:**

_Four days later, on the road to Xiangyang_

Revered Yideng, Xiang and Chan have been traveling for four days towards Xiangyang. After many hours of traveling, all of them agree that they want to rest, and for their good luck, they find a countryside inn. So, they sit on a table and order wine and some rice.

_"Chan?" _Xiang asks with a smile in her face.

_"What is it?"_

_"There is a small village that is an hour away from here, named Luxiang Village. Would you be kind enough to go to the village's herbalist, who is named Yuan, and ask him for those herbs?"_ Xiang replies, while giving a scroll written by Yideng.

_"No problem. In three hours at most, I will be back."_

_Thirty minutes later_

Chan walks on a dirt road towards Luxiang village. Suddenly, as he walks, Hong appears with five men. All of them are muscular and with many scars in their bodies, showing that they must be good fighters and that they must have long experience.

_"Chan, you...you...you...are going to pay for your insults!" _Hong shouts, barely able to speak because of his anger. His face is red like blood, showing how angry he is at Chan.

_"Hey, Hong, old pal!" _Chan replies. _"Have you brought your friends here to entertain me? I thank you for doing so. You clearly care for me, since you send moving punching bags on which I can train! I thank you with all of my heart"_

Hearing those words, Hong's five men run towards Chan to attack him. The first tries to hit Chan with his right fist, but Chan blocks the attack using his right leg and he then punches his fists on the man's face thirty time. The fists of Chan move fast and are coordinated like chains. The man's nose is broken, along with some of his teeth, and he falls on the ground bleeding. The second man kicks Chan's back and causes Chan to fall on the ground, but Chan quickly gets up and kicks him three times on his genetic organs and then five times on the stomach. The man, injured, spits blood from his mouth and collapses on the ground unconscious. The third man pulls out a knife and tries to stab Chan, but Chan dodges all of his attacks before grabbing the man's head and hitting it with all of his power on his right knee, breaking the man's head and killing him. The fourth man also tries to attack Chan with a knife, but before he can do so, Chan runs towards the third man's dead body, grabs his knife from his cold hands and throws it at the fourth man's stomach, killing him. The fifth man, seeing all of his comrades dead, decides to run away.

_"So" _Chan says _"Hong, old pal, do you want to help me exercise my martial arts too?"_

Hearing those words, Hong is so scared that he pees on his pants and tries to run away, while shouting _"help! help!"_ and _"have mercy!"_. Suddenly a young man appears. The man is tall, very muscular, with green eyes, long black hair and a very handsome face. He wears a blue Hanfu made of silk, which shows that he is relative rich. The man walks with confidence and a heroic stature towards Chan.

_"You!" _the man shouts while pointing at Chan. _"How dare you bully an innocent man?! Are you not ashamed of bullying someone asking for mercy?!"  
_

_"Hey, you idiot" _Chan confidently says while laughing_. "Get out of my way, unless you want to be beaten too!"_

_"I, Wang, have never been defeated in combat!"_

_"And I, Chan, tell you that you are going to be beaten so hard that you will not remember your name!"_

Wang runs towards Chan and tries to kick him with a flying kick, but Chan dodges the kick. Chan then counterattacks by trying to kick Wang's face, but Wang also dodges the kick. Not only does he do that, but he also punches twice his fists on Chan's unprotected stomach, pushing Chan back. Chan, however, is not defeated yet and attacks once more. He kicks again and again Wang. At first Wang is able to block all of Chan's kicks, but Chan continues his kicks, which come fast and coordinated like a chain. As more and more kicks attack Wang, and as Chan continues without showing any kind of tiredness, Wang starts to lose his ground and becomes tired. He cannot defend as well any more, and soon Chan breaks his defence. Once he does that, Chan's kicks more than ten times Wang's face, breaking his nose, and causing him to fall on the ground.

_"Now," _Chan says _"get out of my way, asshole!"_

Hearing this insult, Wang gets up and attacks with fury Chan using his internal strength. A red dragon comes out of Wang's palms and sends Chan flying a few miles away and causes Chan to fall to the ground. Chan gets up bleeding.

_"What...is this?"_

_"The first of the __Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms."_

_"I dare you not to use internal strength if you are a real man!"_

Wang does not reply for a second, but when he sees that Hong has gone away, he leaves shouting _"my business is over. I hope that you have learned your lesson!"_

_At the same time, in the Mongol-Song border_

While Chan was fighting with Wang, the Mongol invasion of the Song Dynasty begins. More than 100,000 Mongol soldiers march in a giant column into Song territory. In front of the Mongol column, Marco, Wu, Cao, Ma, Arikhgiya and Akiramou lead the army riding on horseback. The sight of the Mongolian army marching is just majestic and leaves speechless all those who see it. All the Mongol soldiers move like one body. They are coordinated and disciplined to last detail. The Mongolian column is divided to regiments, which are each headed by a bannerman who proudly holds high to the sky the banner of the Great Khan, inspiring and bringing courage to the Mongol soldiers, while terrorizing and awing the enemies. The Mongolian soldiers can march for a whole day with only a few minute's time of rest. They are indeed one of the finest forces in history.

_"This is the greatest army in the world. No one will be able to stop us!" _Arikhgiya proudly boasts.

_"Indeed!" _Wu replies. _"Our campaign will go down in history as one of the greatest military triumphs in military history. Victory shall be ours."_

_"But," _Cao says _"we should not underestimate the enemy. They may not have an army like ours, but their men are brave. Not to say that they have many skilled pugilists and that they are led by men who are talented in military matters, like Guo Jing. All our last invasions have failed, despite being very well planned. So, we should not underestimate the Song resistance."_

_Xiangyang, Guo Jing's guests hall  
_

Meanwhile, Guo Jing has gathered in the guests hall of his house countless pugilists heroes from all major sects to unite them for the resistance against the Mongol army.

_"Heroes from all over the Central Plain!" _Guo Jing says. _"I have gathered you here so that we can organize the anti-Mongol resistance and to defend the city of Xiangyang. The last time we united against our enemy, we were able not only to fend off their army, but also to kill the Mongol Khan. Now, I hope, that we shall able to repeat those heroic deeds. Although the Mongol forces are many and well trained, all of our soldiers are brave and are willing to die for the nation. For this reason, we must all help them defeat the Mongols. Some of you may think that the Song Dynasty is too corrupt to deserve such heroism. But we are not doing this for the Song Emperor. We are doing this for the Han Chinese people. If the Mongols take over the Song Dynasty, then the Han Chinese people will become slaves and will be oppressed. We would be no better than dogs who are waiting for their master to beat them. So, I call all of you to unite and resist the Mongols."_

All the pugilists start to cheer and shout _"Resistance! Death to the invaders!"._

_"If we want to stop the_ Mongols," Guo Jing continues_ "then we have to defend Xiangyang at all costs. If it falls, then the whole defence of the Song Dynasty shall collapse and we are as good as defeated. But we need a leader to make our resistance more effective and to coordinate our actions. Who shall be elected to lead the anti-Mongol resistance?"_

Yang Guo comes toward Guo Jing and shouts _"Uncle Guo, you have shown your military, martial and organization skills again and again. You were the one who repelled the last Mongol invasion. So, I nominate you for the position of the leader of the anti-Mongol resistance."_

Everyone agrees with Yang Guo and shouts _"Guo Jing be our leader!" _and _"Young hero Yang Guo is right!"._

Guo Jing remains silent at first, but he then decides to accept the position of the leader. _"Since you call me to lead the anti-Mongol resistance, I cannot escape my duty. I accept your nomination. I shall lead the pugilists of the Central plains against the Mongol invaders!"_


	8. Part 8

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 8:**

_An hour later, Luxiang village_

After walking for almost an hour, Chan finally reaches the Luxiang village, in order to buy the herbs that Xiang asked for. The village is very small and has mainly wooden houses. Most of the villagers are farmers, but there also exist certain shops, like that of herbalist Yuan, and a martial arts school, the Jun School. The Jun School is run by Master Jun, a famous master in the area, who is between mediocre and good in martial arts but strict in character.

After searching of some time, Chan finds the shop of herbalist Yuan. Once he enters the shop, he sees an old man with long white beard and wearing a black shirt and black trousers crying.

_"Mister, are you herbalist Yuan?" _Chan asks the old man.

_"Yes, young man." _the old man says while crying. His eyes are red because of crying for many hours. _"But my shop is not open today. I am sorry."_

_"But...I really need those herbs."_

_"I am really sorry, but I have my own problems right now."_

_"What problems? Maybe I could help?"_

_"Can you fight Master Jun and all of his students?"_

_"Of course! I am a pugilist, you know. I have long wanted to fight this famous Master Jun. But why do you me to fight him?"  
_

_"You see, my son, who is young and ignorant, fell in love with Master Jun's daughter, Lihua. Master Jun does not want his daughter to marry a man who is just the son of a herbalist and whose Kung Fu is mediocre. So, his students are right now beating up my son. I am old and I cannot fight them, and if I try to help my son, they threaten that they will burn my shop and my house."_

_"The bastards!" _Chan, furious with the actions of Master Jun, shouts. How can a respected pugilist threaten and bully a young boy and his old father? And all of this happened just because Yuan's son is in love with Jun's daughter. How despicable! _"I am going to teach them a good lesson!"_

_"Thank you, young hero!" _Yuan shouts while smiling and crying because of how happy he is.

_A few minutes later_

After a few minutes, Chan and Yuan reach Master Jun's martial arts school. There, they see seven students beating up a young man, who is bleeding and has bruises all over his body.

_"My son!" _Yuan shouts with desperation when he sees the situation of his son.

One of the seven students comes close to Yuan and pushes him away while shouting _"Get out of my way, old man!"_

Suddenly, Chan kicks the student nine times on the face. The student falls on the ground, bleeding and with blood running like river in his face. An other student comes close to Chan.

_"You!" _the student says. _"What business do you have?"_

_"I just cannot stand evil-doers. Let the young man go!"_

_"Ha!" _the student laughs_. "You think that you are great? Then fight us all together!"_

_"All right!" _

So, all the six remaining students charge at Chan. The first student attacks Chan with his right fist, but Chan dodges his fist and then grabs the man and throws him on a stone wall of the school. The second and third students attack together, but Chan kicks them both with a powerful flying kick. His right leg hits the second student's head, while his left leg the stomach of the third student. So, both of them fall on the ground. The fourth student pulls out a long sword and tries to cut down Chan, but Chan dodges the sword and then kicks the man's stomach. The student lets his sword fall down, because of the kick, and Chan grabs the sword and stabs the man on the stomach. The fifth and sixth students also pull out their swords and attack Chan. The fifth student tries to cut Chan's legs with his sword, but Chan jumps on the air, dodging the attack, and when he lands back to the ground, he counterattacks and cuts off the student's right hand, causing him to collapse to the ground. The sixth student slashes his sword on Chan's left arm, but Chan quickly stabs him on the right leg, causing him to fall. Once he has defeated all of the six students, Chan runs towards the young man.

_"Are you all right?" _Chan asks.

_"Thank you." _the young man replies. _"Had it not been for you, I would have been killed."_

_"It's nothing. I just cannot stand evil-doers and oppression."_

Suddenly an old man dressed in a silk Hanfu and a young lady. The old man is clearly trained in martial arts, and Chan understands that it must be Master Jun, while the young lady must be his daughter. The young lady, seeing the young man bleeding and beaten, runs towards him, embraces him and cries.

_"What do you want, young man?" _Jun asks.

_"I want you to allow your daughter to marry the son of herbalist Yuan." _Chan replies.

_"If you can defeat me, then I will agree to your request."_

_"Very well. I accept your challenger." _Chan then turns to the young lady. _"Miss Lihua, do not worry. I shall not hurt your father."_

And so the duel begins. Jun kicks Chan with his right leg. At first Chan can defend against Jun's kicks, but soon he is pushed back and Jun manages to kick him twice on the head. Jun the grabs Chan from the hair with his left hand and punches his right fist on Chan's face, before throwing him on a nearby table. Chan fall on the table, which breaks, and starts to bleed and spit blood. However, despite being wounded, Chan gets up, only to be kicked again by Jun and to fall again on the ground. This is repeated again and again. Despite his injuries, Chan gets up again and again and is kicked to the ground again and again. This continues many times, until Chan manages to grab Jun's leg with his right hand and breaks it with his left elbow. Master Jun falls on the ground and is unable to walk.

_"I...I...have defeated you. Now, you should allow your daughter to marry Yuan's son." _Chan, who is short of breath, tries to say.

_"I have given you my word, young man, and I will keep it."_

Hearing those words, Yuan's son and Lihua laugh and kiss each other. But while Chan was defeating Jun in combat, Wang, the same man who fought previously with Chan, was walking in the street of the village. As he is walking, he sees this scene and rushes towards Master Jun.

_"You shameless scum!" _Wang shouts at Chan. _"You did not learn your lesson and you bully innocent people again?! How dare you beat up a respected elder and his students?! Have you got no consciousness?!"_

_"O Heavens! Why must I meet this asshole every time?!" _Chan asks while watching towards the sky. _"Get out of my way before I beat the crap out of you!"_

_"In the name of justice and pugilist honor, I will not allow you to escape here alive!"_

Wang begins the duel with jumping on the air and punching his right elbow Chan's head. Chan then kicks Wang's right knee, causing him to fall on the ground. Chan charges at Wang, but Wang quickly gets up and uses the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms on Chan. A red dragon comes out of Wang's palms and hits Chan. Chan is pushed away, and Wang uses once again the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, but this time Chan jumps on the air and dodges the red dragon. Wang uses three more times his Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, but Chan is able to dodge it every time.

_"I also know some tricks!" _Chan says laughing.

Chan grabs a nearby table and throws it at Wang, who breaks it with his right leg. Chan then grabs a chair and breaks it on Wang's head, who is bleeding. Chan then pulls out the long sword he had used against Jun's students and tries to stab Wang. He manages to slash Wang on the stomach and on his left arm, but he is unable to stab him, as Wang dodges the sword. Wang retreats with great speed inside the Jun School, and Chan chases him equally fast. When Wang enters the school, he sees a very, very long wooden pole and grabs it. This wooden pole will be the weapon with which he will fight Chan's long sword. When Chan manages to catch up with Wang, he is unprepared for the wooden pole, which hits him with immense power on the chest. Chan tries to slash Wang, but Wang uses his pole to defend against Chan's attacks. At one point, Wang even manages to hit with fury Chan's back. However, Chan is not defeated and continues to slash Wang on his stomach, his chest and his back, causing Wang many cuts. This continues until Chan uses his sword with immense strength to cut in two Wang's wooden pole. With his pole broken, Wang is unarmed once again. Chan tries to cut off his head, but Wang dodges Chan's sword again and again, before finding a long iron spear, which he grabs and uses to defend against Chan. The fight continues as Chan's sword clashes with Wang's spear. Both Chan and Wang injure each other seriously. Chan with slashing his sword many times on Wang's chest, and and Wang with stabbing Chan's stomach with his spear twice. After a few minutes of intense fighting, Wang slashes Chan's face with his spear, causing him to fall on the ground and let his sword go. Now, it is Chan's turn to be unarmed. Chan dodges again and again Wang's spear, but after a few minutes, he is cornered against a wall and is unable to escape. As Wang is ready to kill Chan, Lihua, Yuan's son, Yuan himself and even Master Jun bow before Wang and crying they ask him to let go of Chan.

_"Young hero Wang." _Yuan says. _"Please show mercy to young hero Chan. He helped my son and Miss Lihua to get married."_

_"While I had a fight with him," _Master Jun says while bowing with great difficulty before Wang _"I do not wish for the death of such an excellent martial artist."__  
_

_"Alright." _Wang replies, sighing at how Chan escaped again from death at his hands. _"I will let him go."_

Wang leaves the school, while Yuan helps Chan to come to his shop and take the herbs he asked for.

_Xiangyang, Guo Jing's guests hall_

Meanwhile, Guo Jing and Lü Wenhuan discuss the defend of Xiangyang from the Mongol invasion and the placement of the troops, as well as the logistics and the gathering of supplies inside the city, to allow Xiangyang to hold for many years against a Mongol siege. As the two men talk, a servant rushes inside the room.

_"Sir!" _the servant shouts, clearly tired from the running. _"A man who claims to be Liu Yao wishes audience with you."_

_"Call him in!" _Guo Jing replies.

Guo Jing is curious about who this man is and decides to ask Lü Wenhuan about him.

_"Marshall, who could this person be."_

_"I have heard of him. He is a famous military strategist. He served in the Kingdom of Dali and helped the King of Dali to defend his Kingdom against the Mongol invasion. However, he was dismissed on charges, which are most likely false and the result of jealously by the King's other advisers, that he had an affair with the King's favorite concubine."_

_"Interesting. He might be of great use to us."_

A man in his 30's with a light black beard, short black hair, blue eyes and wearing a grey Hanfu enters the guests hall. He is Liu Yao, the famous military strategist that crushed one Mongol army after the other in Dali and who was able to lead Dali forces even into offensives deep inside Mongolian territory. Liu Yao makes a slight bow before Guo Jing and Lü Wenhuan.

_"I, Liu Yao, would like to be under your command and serve you and help you defeat the Mongol invaders." _Liu says with a calm voice and that shows a man who is polite and has scholarly interests.

_"Your offer to help us is an honor" _Guo Jing replies, smiling, with tears in his eyes and unable to hide his happiness that he has found such a rare talent to help him. _"I am most pleased that you decided to help us."_

_"I would like to test you!" _Lü cautiously says.

_"Of course." _Liu replies.

_"So" _Lü says _"you should know of the 'Eight Docked Gates' formation, right?"_

_"Of course."_

_"So, how can you defeat this formation, which is considered one of the most formidable formations in warfare and has almost never been defeated?"_

Liu pulls out eight silver taels and positions them on a table in a way that creates a circle.

_"Annihilation, Life, Injury, Obstacle, Exit, Death, Surprise, Freedom. These are the eight gates. This formation was invented by Sun Bin. It was further developed by many military strategists and has evolved over the years. In order to break this formidable formation, I believe that I need only 500 crack cavalrymen led by an elite General, to enter in the Gate of Life in the southeast and fight his way out of the Gate of Exit in the west. The formation will surely collapse."_

_"Ha!" _Lü shouts, not believing that only 500 cavalrymen could break such formidable formation. _"What makes you believe that this could succeed?"_

_"Because it has already been used with success by Xu Shu, Director-General of Liu Bei, during the Three Kingdoms era. At that time, Liu Bei had taken control of the city of Xinye in the Jing province. Cao Cao send Cao Ren to destroy Liu Bei. Cao Ren used the __'Eight Docked Gates' formation and shouted at Liu Bei to meet him on the battlefield. Xu Shu pointed out the weaknesses in the formation and instructed Liu's general Zhao Yun to lead ____500 crack cavalrymen to enter in the Gate of Life in the southeast and fight his way out of the Gate of Exit in the west._ Zhao Yun led his men to attack the formation and succeeded in breaking it, defeating Cao Ren. If Zhao Yun could do it, then we can too."

_"I am most impressed by you!" _Lü, very impressed with Liu, shouts.

_"I officially name you Director-General." _Guo Jing says. _"Please instruct us on what to do."_

_"We must increase our spies in the Mongol army. While you already have send many spies to spy on the Mongol army, there are almost no spies in the Mongol Navy. This is a grave mistake, since it is clear that the Mongol Navy will blockade the Han River, thus stopping the flow of supplies in the city. So, we need spies in the Mongol Navy in order to find a way to destroy it."_


	9. Part 9

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 9:**

_The next day, a few miles outside of Hu village_

A group of 8 Quanzhen Taoist Monks walk together from the Hu Village to the dirt road that leads to Xiangyang. Their goal is to answer the call of pugilist unity by Guo Jing and help him defend the city from the Mongol Empire. The Taoists are led by Abbot Guangyu, a tall man with long black beard, green eyes and ears so large that they touch his shoulders and that he can even see them. Guangyu has two students, Ma Guofeng, a virtuous young man with peace in his heart, and Jiang Zhuge. Jiang is a tall muscular man with long black hair and a fair and handsome face. Jiang is better than Ma both in scholarly and martial skills, but he is also very ambitious, strong willed and lets his anger control him. Both Jiang and Ma are heirs to Abbot Guangyu and possible successors of him, but Guangyu believes that Ma is a far more suitable than Jiang for the position of the Abbot. Jiang knows what his teacher thinks, and is worried about it. The only one who could help him is Taoist Changshek, sworn brother of Guangyu. Changshek is a man in his late 50's with a scruffy black beard and a face that is neither ugly nor handsome, but more like something between those two. Changshek is an alcoholic, but he is also very ambitious and loves money. He is also a very able speaker. His teacher made Guangyu Abbot instead of him and so he still holds a grudge against Guangyu.

As the Taoists walk the dirt road that leads to Xiangyang, they see a countryside inn. They are all very tired, and so Changshek decides to ask Guangyu permission to rest in the inn.

_"Brother, we are all very tired. We should rest a bit in this inn. What do you say, brother?" _Changshek asks.

_"You are right." _Guangyu replies. _"Lets go there and rest a bit."_

So the 8 Taoists sit on a table and call for the waiter. The waiter, a young man, comes to them and the Taoists order rice and some wine. Jiang, who wants to consult Changshek, asks his teacher for permission to go and talk with his Uncle.

_"Teacher." _Jiang says_. "Am I allowed to go out and discuss with Uncle over a matter that puzzles me?"_

_"What matter is this?" _Guangyu answers.

_"About the meaning of some scriptures."_

_"Very well. Brother Changshek, please help my student on this matter."_

_"I will do." _Changshek replies.

And so the two of them go out of the inn to discuss. After walking for a few minutes, Jiang decides to ask his Uncle.

_"Uncle, I am very skilled both in martial arts and scholarly skills. Yet, my teacher always favors Ma. I just cannot understand why."_

_"You teacher is indeed ignorant on this matter. My teacher, who was a great man, was also ignorant on the matter of choosing a heir, and he chose Guangyu instead of me, despite the fact that I was better than him in martial arts. So, I know how you feel. You feel anger, hate. Is that right?"_

_"Yes."_

_"You must use this anger, this hate. Do not appease it. Instead, let the hate flow through you. Only then shall you become really powerful and gain the respect and admiration of your teacher."_

_"But...this is against all that my teacher teaches and against all Taoist scriptures."_

_"Wrong. What your teacher and the Taoist scriptures say is that you should not let the anger take control of you."_

_"Then how am I wrong?"_

_"What I advise you is not to let the anger take control of you, but to use your anger and hate to become more powerful. To let it flow through you, but also to control it to become stronger."_

_"Is it...possible to control your hate, your anger, and use it without letting it take control of you?"_

_"It is. And I can teach you. There is a martial arts style based on those principles. I found a manual of this style years ago, but I kept it secret from your teacher, because he cannot appreciate the methods used in this style and he would surely have destroyed it." _

_"What style is this? Can you teach me now?!"_

_"The style is called the 'Swordsmanship of Hate'. This swordsmanship style is very, very aggressive. It uses the hate and anger of the practitioner and it is based on pure brutal strength. Your hate and anger increase your strength, thus making this style very effective."_

Jiang kowtows before Changshek.

_"Uncle." _Jiang says with tears in his eyes. _"Can you teach me this style?"_

_"Of course."_

Changshek pulls out his sword and starts showing the moves of the 'Swordsmanship of Hate' style to Jiang. His moves are splurging and slow, but very powerful and with immense strength in each move. As time passes, Changshek becomes more and more furious and angry and his moves become more and more violent and powerful. It is like the hate and anger empower him and make him more powerful. It is also evident that the hate and anger in his heart empowers his internal strength, maximizing many times the power of his sword.

_"It is now your turn." _Changshek says when he finishes his moves.

Jiang pulls out his sword and makes the same movements as Changshek, but his moves are not so powerful. Instead, they seem confused and indecisive. Changshek decides to help Jiang by shouting _"Use the hate you have for Ma and for the unfair treatment of your teacher!". _Indeed, when Jiang hears those words, he lets his anger and hate overtake him. His moves become violent, aggressive and ends up going amok, without any coordination or elegance, but only with pure brutal strength. Jiang becomes more and more powerful, and he can feel it. Laughing like a maniac, he uses his sword against some nearby trees, which are sliced like a bread is sliced by a knife. As he moves his sword and attacks the air, Jiang shouts with all of his anger and hate. The sound creates a huge explosion which burns all nearby trees and the grass in the ground. After this explosion, Jiang, with great difficulty, manages to regain his calmness.

_"That...was powerful!" _Jiang, who is out of breath, tries to say.

_"Indeed. This explosion was caused by your internal strength, which you cultivated with your hate and anger. As you can see, hate and anger makes you all powerful. Now, lets return to the inn."_

Meanwhile, in the inn, a fat bald man with a knife in his hands and followed by seven men, enters the inn. They group sits on a table and the fat man shouts the waiter.

_"Waiter!" _the fat man shouts. While the waiter is coming, the man sees the Taoists and becomes furious.

_"Here I am, Mister Ge." _the waiter replies.

Ge says with a low voice something to the waiter. Then the waiters leaves and serves to the Taoists some more wine. The Taoists drink the wine, and they suddenly feel dizzy.

_"What...have...you...done to us?!" _Guangyu asks the water.

Ge pushes aside the waiter and comes close to Guangyu.

_"You remember Bandit Go?"_

_"Yes, I killed him a year ago, because he tried to rape a young girl."_

_"I am Ge, his sworn brother, and I want revenge. It is my good luck that I found you here today. I have poisoned your wine. But do not worry. It is not going to kill you. It will make you fall asleep. I want to torture you for many hours before I kill you, and so I will take you to the fortress of my Bandits, where I will torture you."_

While Ge orders his bandits to grab the Taoists and take them to his fortress, Changshek and Jiang watch the scene and discuss on what they should do.

_"Uncle, let me go now!" _Jiang shouts, worried about his teacher.

_"No! We should follow them secretly to their headquarters, so we can kill all of them and get rid of them once and for all."_

_A few hours later_

Jiang and Changshek follow the bandits to their fortress. Their fortress is located upon a hill and is protected by a large stone wall. Inside it, there are several buildings. Jiang and his uncle wait for a few hours, until it is night, and then they use the darkness of night to sneak into the fortress. They enter a large building, where they had seen their comrades being transferred. Once they enter the building, they see three bandits, armed with swords, guarding a cell.

_"Jiang" _Changshek says with a low voice. _"Use the techniques I taught you to kill the guards. This is your first test. Remember that they are the ones who torture your teacher."_

Jiang, who is very worried over his teacher and very angry at the bandits, lets his hate and anger overtake him. So, he pulls out his sword and charges at the guards. The three guards, seeing Jiang charging towards them, pull out their swords and get ready to defend. Jiang attacks with fury the first guard. His attacks, while slow, are brutal and powerful. Jiang cuts off both arms of the guard and then beheads him with a swift move. The second guard attacks, but Jiang dodges the guard's sword and then stabs with fury five times his sword on the man's chest. The third guard tries to slash Jiang, but Jiang blocks all of his attacks and then counterattacks. He penetrates his sword with fury through the guard's left ear and his blade comes out from the guard's right ear. He then pulls out his sword from the man's head and slits the guard's throat with a swift and fast move.

_"Good. Very good..." _Changshek says, proud of his student.

_"Uncle...it felt so good when I killed those scums!"_

_"Good...let the hate flow through you."_

Jiang and Changshek break the cell's door and enter inside it. There, they find their comrades and Guangyu, who is injured very badly and is bleeding. There are scars and bruises all over his body. Jiang, crying and desperate, bows before his teacher.

_"Teacher!" _Jiang shouts._ "You cannot die!"_

Guangyu can only move his hand and touch Jiang's shoulder.

_"Ma and the rest of you!" _Jiang says. _"Take teacher out of here. Me and Changshek are going to deal with those scums. We will meet in the inn."_

Ma places Guangyu on his shoulders and leaves with the rest of the Taoists. Once they leave, Changshek tries to provoke Jiang's anger, in order to test how much hate he has and how strong can he become if he uses his hate.

_"Jiang! Your teacher is in a critical situation. The bandits really tortured him very badly. He may die any moment soon."_

_"No! Do not say that!"_ Jiang, with fury, desperation and hate, shouts. Guangyu is like a father to Jiang. He has been teaching him for more than 19 years. He feels sadness in his heart, but most of all hate and a desire for revenge.

_"But, this is the truth. You must take revenge for your teacher. Slaughter every single man, woman and child here! Take revenge to appease your teacher's soul, if he has died. And even if he has not died, you must revenge your teacher for all those hours that he was being tortured."_

_"I will!"_

Jiang pulls out his sword and starts entering one building after the other. He kills everyone, without considering sexes and age. He kills several women, children, even babies, old men and women. Some women and children bow before him and beg him for mercy, but he beheads them. Tens of bandits attack him, but he kills all of them. Jiang is amok and in a killing spree. His hate and anger overtakes him completely. After half an hour of killing women and children and fending off attacks by the bandits, Jiang is able to find the room of Ge. Seeing Ge in front of him, Jiang goes amok.

_"I will kill you!" _Jiang shouts and charges against Ge. Ge tries to defend with a wooden club, but his attempts are futile. Jiang cuts off his arms and stabs him on the stomach. His wife rushes towards Jiang, bows before him and begs for mercy, but instead of replying, Jiang kicks her on the head three times, breaking her head and killing her. Seeing his mother dead, Ge's six years old son runs towards her, but Jiang cuts him in two with his sword. He then stabs Ge more than forty times, with an almost maniacal fury and hate. Jiang then tries to calm down, but he achieves this only after slashing and breaking everything in the room with his sword for more than 10 minutes. Once he leaves the room, he sees Changshek clapping, laughing and shouting _"Good! Good! I foresee that you shall become the greatest pugilist in all of China! The hate has made you all powerful. It has given you the strength to fight off an entire army of bandits!"__. _Then, the two of them set fire on the buildings and leave to meet their comrades._  
_

_A few hours later_

After a few hours, Jiang and Changshek meet the other Taoists in the inn and are informed that Guangyu is going to recover. Jiang, while at first very happy about this, later becomes worried. If his teacher learns of the massacre in the bandit's fortress, he would kill him with his own hands. So, he decides to go to Changshek's room late in the night. He knocks the door and Changshek greets him inside.

_"Jiang, what brings you here?"_

_"Uncle, I am worried. What will happen if teacher learns of what happened at the hill?"_

_"Do not worry. Everyone there has been massacred by you. There is no evidence at all to show that you are responsible for the massacre."_

_"Uncle...I was feeling joy while I was massacring the bandits, but now I feel guilt and I see all those who I killed every time I try to sleep. Is...is...is what you asked me to do right?"_

_"Of course it is. Do you know how many villages those bandits had massacred and how many women they had raped?! They deserved this massacre!"_


	10. Part 10

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 10:**

_Three days later, Guo Jing's bedroom_

For the past few weeks, Guo Jing had little time to rest, as he is preparing, along with Marshall Lü Wenhuan, the defences of Xiangyang for the upcoming Mongol invasion. Guo Jing has gone as far as not sleeping for four whole days in order to inspect fortifications and draw war plans. Huang Rong, wife of Guo Jing, knows that so much overwork will affect her husband's health, and so, after many hours of talking to him and with the support of Marshall Lü, she has managed to persuade him to rest a bit. Now, she is massaging his back on their bedroom. Huang Rong, although not young anymore, remains very beautiful. She has skin whiter than snow and charm unrivaled by any.

_"You massage" _Guo says _"makes me relax a bit. You were right. I really need some rest, in order to be able to work better for the defence of Xiangyang."_

_"Do not think of the defence again, Jing-gege" _Huang replies. _"For just a day, you need to forget everything and rest. Otherwise, your health shall deteriorate and you will not be able to contribute in the defence of the city."_

_"Now that you say about this, do you remember when I was injured by Yang Kang and we had to stay together for-"_

Before Guo Jing can continue, he hears someone knocking the door. Huang opens the door and a servant comes inside.

_"Sir! You disciple, Wang, has returned!" _the man shouts.

_"I will go to meet him!" _Guo Jing says while dressing.

_"No!" _Huang replies. _"You need some rest!"_

_"I had my rest! I must now go and greet Wang!"_

_Guo Jing's guests room_

Meanwhile, Yang Guo greets Wang. Yang and Wang are very good friends, and so Yang gives Wang a warm welcome. He embraces him and says _"Wang, you returned!" _with tears in his eyes and laughing.

_"Brother Guo, I am so glad to meet you again."_

_"How was your journey?"_

_"Very good, except for a troublesome idiot that I had to fight twice."_

As the two men talk, Guo Jing rushes into the room. Once he sees his teacher, Wang bows before him in respect.

_"Teacher, I have returned."_

_"Wang, I am so delighted to see you."_

As the three men discuss, a servant rushes into the room.

_"What is it?" _Guo Jing asks.

_"Your daughter has returned along with Revered Yideng and an other man." _the servant answers.

_"Good!" _Yang says, delighted that he will see Xiang. _"Call them in."_

Yang Guo had protected Xiang along with Li Mochou when she was a baby and the two of them have long been friends. So Yang is very happy to see her. Wang also wants to see Xiang, as he is interested romantically in her. But when Xiang comes in the guests room, except for her and Revered Yideng, he sees Chan. Seeing Chan, Wang becomes mad. Chan also becomes mad when he sees the 'asshole', as Chan calls Wang.

_"You!" _both Chan and Wang shout while pointing at each other. And so, they begin to duel. Wang uses the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and Chan jumps on the air, dodging the red dragon coming out of Wang's palms. As the two of them begin to kick and hit each other, Xiang comes between them and shouts_ "Stop fighting!", _in an effort to dissuade them from fighting.

_"He was the one who tries to kill me twice!" _both Wang and Chan shout together at Xiang.

_"Both of you stop!" _Xiang replies. _"We are all here so we can defend Xiangyang from the Mongols. We must not fight each other. If we fight each other, then the mission of the Mongols shall be accomplished."_

_"I understand." _Wang says._ "Brother Chan. Please forgive me for fighting with you." _

_"No, no. There is not need to be sorry." _Chan replies._"I was the one who was rush. I should be the one to ask for forgiveness."_

But those words, although polite, are not from their heart. Instead, they both ask for forgiveness in order to show themselves as magnanimous before Xiang. In reality, Chan and Wang hate each other even more now. Wang is jealous to see Xiang along with Chan, while Chan believes that Xiang is favoring Wang, despite that he, at least according to Chan, is wrong.

_"So, who is this man?" _Guo Jing asks, confused over the situation. Guo Jing has never been very bright and so he is quite confused about Chan.

_"Dad!" _Xiang answers. _"He is a pugilist who helped me fight some thugs that tried to harass me and Revered Yideng, and he also wants to help you defend Xiangyang from the Mongols."_

_"Good! Good! It is great to meet such an excellent young man."_

Chan bows before Guo Jing in order to see his respect and admiration for him.

_"Hero Guo, please accept my greetings."_

_"No need for such formalities! Come and sit with me for some wine."_

_"I dare not bother you with me."_

_"No, of course not. You do not bother me. Please do me this favor."_

_"Since you insist, I will accept your invitation." _

And so, Guo Jing and Chan sit on a table and start drinking wine, while discussing for several matters. Twenty minutes later, a man rushes inside the room.

_"Sir,"_ he says. _"__Director-General __Liu Yao wants you in Marshall Lü's office." _

Guo Jing apologizes to Chan and leaves the room in a hurry. A few minutes later, he arrives at the office of Marshall Lü, which is guarded by six soldiers. When he enters the room, he sees Lü examining some maps and he is greeted by Liu.

_"Welcome my lord!"_

_"Are there any news?" _Guo Jing asks, worried over the situation of the city.

_"I have already explained to Marshall __Lü and so I will explain to you now. As you know, our main natural defensive barrier is the Han river. The Han river is crucial to the defense of Xiangyang, not only because it acts as a natural defensive barrier which can slow down the Mongol forces, but also because Xiangyang can be supplied by the Song court through the Han river. That's one of the reasons why the last Mongol campaign failed. __Möngke Khan failed to create a strong enough navy to blockade the Han river, thus allowing the Song court to send supplies and reinforcements thought the Han river to Xiangyang. However, Kublai has been able to create a 5,000 ships strong navy, which is far larger than our 1,000 ships strong navy, and has also trained 70,000 marines. That means that if we try to engage the Mongols in an open naval battle, we will lose for sure and our navy will be destroyed. If our navy is destroyed, the Mongols will gain complete control of the Han river and will be able to blockade it, thus causing us to lose our supply line and ending the possibility of the Song court sending any supplies or reinforcements to the city."  
_

_"Then what shall we do?!" _Guo Jing, panicked and agonized, asks_. _

_"My lord, please allow me to explain the situation."_

_"All right."_

_"As you know, I have already send spies to learn of the situation of the Mongol navy. I have learned that the Mongol navy, because of strong wings, constant rain and the flooding of the Han river in it's eastern point, has been forced to station at the small coastal city of Hanjin, on the northern side of the river. This is our chance to destroy the Mongol navy. We need to send men to go as fast as they can to the city and try to set on fire the Mongol fleet. Although a large numbers of ships will surely survive, the destruction of 1,000 or even 800 ships will surely helps us balance the odds and will also lower and demoralize the Mongol soldiers."  
_

_"That's great news. Marshall ____Lü__, how many men will you send in this mission?"  
_

_"I will not send any men." _Lü replies. _"The Mongols have 70,000 marines in the city, as well as 20,000 infantry. The port is guarded very well. Also, how can I hide an entire army in order to make the attack as success? Not to say that it will take two weeks to move an entire army to Hanjin. So, it is impossible for an army to launch a surprise attack on Hanjin and burn the Mongol ships."_

_"Then what shall we do?"_

_"I have an idea."_ Liu answers to Guo Jing's question. _"You should send a small team of very able pugilists to infiltrate inside the city. Since you are the leader of the pugilist world, this should be no problem to you, right? A small team shall be able to enter the city without the Mongol army noticing it and should be able to set the Mongols ships on fire."  
_

_"But how can a few men, not matter how able they are, to burn 1,000 ships or more?"_

_"Of course, if they set fire on one ship after the other, the Mongols will be able to locate them before they manage to burn 1,000 ships and will also put down the fire with ease. However, instead of setting fire on each ship, they will set thundercrash bombs in each ship and then set fire on one of the ships. The explosion of the bomb shall spread the fire on nearby ships, which will lead to the explosion of the bombs on those ships and this would go on until a huge number of Mongol ships is set on fire. It will be a chained reaction which shall doom the Mongol navy."_

_"But will those __thundercrash bombs work?"_

_"Of course. The bombs are made from cast iron and are filled with gunpowder. They have a 50 kilometer explosion range and since even armor made out of iron can be penetrated by pieces of the bomb after the explosion, the bombs should have no problem destroying the wooden Mongol ships."_

_"Good! Good!"_ Guo Jing shouts with a smile in his face.


	11. Part 11

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 11:**

_Guo Jing's guests hall_

Guo Jing has called Wang, Chan and his son in law, Yelü Qi, to the guests room in order to inform them about the mission of burning the Mongol navy. Once the three men hear Liu Yao's plan, they become excited and want to join the mission. And so, Guo Jing decides who will go to Hanjin to burn the Mongol navy.

_"All of you" _Guo Jing says _"are very able in martial arts. However, I will allow only Wang and Yelü to go to Hanjin."_

_"Thank you, my lord!" _both men shout_. _

_"Please go and select ten able pugilists to come with you and help you with your mission."_

_"We shall go right now!" _Wang replies_._

The two men leave, leaving Chan alone with Guo Jing.

_"What shall I do? Do you believe that I am not able enough to go to the mission?" _Chan asks.

_"No." _Guo Jing answers. _"I did not want you to go to Hanjin because I need your help here."_

_"What should I do?"_

_"I want you to help me in the defense of the city. You can do that by cutting wood and cooking for the soldiers."_

_"Are you kidding me?" _Chan asks, completely surprised and disappointed with Guo Jing's request. He had expected that Guo Jing would make great use of him and he would send him to dangerous missions or, the very least, have him to help in the training of the soldiers. The last thing Chan was expecting was that Guo Jing would ask him to cut woods and cook for the soldiers. That could be done by everyone, why choose him who has so great skills? That is what Chan asks himself. Could it be that Guo Jing does not think highly of his skills or that he is favoring his student, Wang?

_"No. Don't you want to help?"_

"_All right. I will do as you say." _Chan sighs.

_A day later, Marshall ____Lü's_ office

Liu Yao calls once again Guo Jing in Lü's office_._ Liu greets Guo Jing while holding a hand fan made of crane feathers in his right hand.

_"My lord" _Liu says _"I need to talk with you about a very serious matter."_

_"What is it?" _Guo Jing, worried, asks.

_"As you know, we have only 3,000 regular troops. Although we have recruited 50,000 men from the local population, most of them have little training and almost no war experience. So, it will be very, very difficult to defend the city."_

_"But, with battles, our troops will gain experience and will be able to win."_

_"I do not think that we are in a position to give such battles in order to give our men experience." _Lü says. _"If we stay on the defensive, our men may gain a lot of experience by repelling the Mongol attacks, but not enough to become an offensive force able to push the Mongols back in an open battle. If we attack right now in order to gain experience for our men, we will lose, because firstly we are outnumbered and secondly our men are badly trained and with no experience. And we cannot afford to lose any battle right now in order to give experience to our men, since we lack troops to replace our casualties and it would undermine our morale and help the enemy claim victory, thus increasing the Mongol morale."_

_"Good analyses!" _Liu shouts._ "I am impressed, Marshall. Anyway, my lord, as the Marshall has said, we cannot expect victory with our current troops." _

_"Then what should we do?" _Guo Jink asks.

_"Well, there is a solution to everything!" _Liu replies. _"As you know, the court right now is weak and divided and the Emperor is indecisive. Some factions support us, some others want peace and want to abandon us. The court can no longer command the country. So, all military matters are now at the hands of the local Governors. That means, that even if the Song court does not agree to reinforce us, local Governors may do." _

_"But who would support us?"_

_"Well, in the south of our province, Hubei, there is the Hunan province, which is huge, has large population and a lot of soldiers. The Hunan province is under the control of Governor Yei Wang. With his seat of power in Changsha, Yei has over 60,000 regular soldiers and could mobilize up to 200,000 irregular soldiers. __Changsha is also an important commercial city. If Yei agrees to help us, then the odds could change to our favor."_

_"But why would Yei agree to help us? What have we got to offer to him, other than taking his army and making him an enemy of the Mongols? What makes you believe that he will not follow the example of the other Governors and stay neutral and wait and see who would win and then go and support the winner,_ _whether it is the Mongols or us?" _

_"Yei has long desired the four southern commanderies of Hubei. We should give them to him."_

_"But that's half the Hubei!" _Lü shouts.

_"I do not think that we have much choice. If we do not get Yei's help, we will surely be defeated by the Mongols. And if we are defeated by the Mongols, what's the use of having the whole province?" _Liu replies.

_"Is this enough for Yei to reinforce us?" _Guo Jing asks.

_"No." _Liu answers. _"This alone will not make him ally with us. However, we have also other gifts for him. Your son, Polu, is the Grand Imperial Secretary of Treasury. He is the fourth most powerful man in the Song Empire and he holds considerable influence in the court. He has become sworn brother with the 9th Prince and has also gained the trust and admiration of His Imperial Highness, Emperor Duzong. Although his influence has not been enough to persuade the Emperor to send more troops to help us, mainly because of the pro-peace Chancellor Jia Sidao, he still holds much influence in the court."_

_"And how would that help?"_

_"Well, you could ask Polu to petition to the court to make Yei a Minister, as well as Commander of the Imperial Cavalry. Those titles, while giving Yei little power, and that's why I believe the court will accept Polu's petition, would give much prestige to Yei and make him favor us. Also..."_

_"Also what?"_

_"Your son, Polu, has good looks, is the son of a national hero, is very skilled in scholarly pursuits and a very high ranking Minister of the Imperial court. Yei has a daughter, who is just 18 years old, and is a peerless beauty and very skilled in sword-fighting, as well as being able in poetry and Confucian classics. If you have the two of them to marry, then you and Yei would become one family and you would have secured the alliance."_

_"But what will Polu think of it?"_

_"Servants!"_ Liu shouts._ "Tell young master Polu to rush here."_

A few minutes later, Polu arrives. Polu has the looks of an aristocrat, with his long black hair, his silk blue robe and with his sturdy posture. Polu is not an able martial artist like his father and only knows some basic moves. However, he is a great poet and orator, as well as a very able politician in the Song court, and he knows how to use bribery, oratory and assassination to achieve his goals.

_"Father. Marshall. Director-General."_ Polu says while bowing before each of the three men.

Guo Jing explains the situation to his son. Polu is at first a bit surprised and does not reply for a few seconds in order to think, but he then makes his decision.

_"I have decided." _Polu says. _"I will agree to your plan."_

_"Good!" _Liu shouts with excitement and a smile in his face.

_"Should we send an envoy to inform Yei of our offer and then send Polu there?" _Guo Jing asks.

_"No!" _Liu replies._ "That would make us lose too much time. Since I am an able speaker, I volunteer to go myself with Polu in __Changsha and inform Yei of our offer. If he agrees, then we can have Polu marry immediately. That would save us much time and would also give us more chances to persuade Yei, as I am an able speaker."  
_

_"But what would I do without you here?"_

_"Do not worry. I will leave behind some stratagems. You can read them and make use of them while I am not here."_

_"Very well. Then, I agree."_

_The next day, Xinye, office of General Wu_

Xinye is a small outpost north of Fancheng, which (Fancheng) is held by Song forces. Xinye is now the base of the 100,000 strong Mongol Army. The city is surrounded with tents of the Mongol soldiers, because the Mongol army is so huge that not all soldiers are able to stay in Xinye. The sight of the Mongol army in Xinye is impressive and awe-inspiring. Every day, the Mongol army makes drills and marches up and down the city, in a show of force. This show of force has the goal to scary the enemy army and demoralize it. In the office of General Wu, Marco Polo and Wu discuss the military situation and which should be their next moves.

_"Wu," _Marco says _"are there any news from our Navy in Hanjin?"_

_"They are still not ready to set sail." _Wu replies.

_"That makes me worried. As long as our navy is stationed in that city, there is always the possibility that the Song may send troops to set it on fire."_

_"How would the Song be able to move an entire army to Hanjin without us noticing it? Also, we have left 20,000 men and 70,000 marines in the city. So, even if the Song somehow manage to move an army to Hanjin without us noticing it, they will not be able to achieve much."_

_"I still believe that our navy is not safe. When I was to Indo-China, during one of my journeys, two Kings in the area fought a war. One of them had a very strong navy, while the other had a weak navy. So, the one with the weak navy, send a team of twenty very able fighter to sneak through the defences of the other King and burn his navy. And indeed, this happened."_

Suddenly, a man enters the room and says _"That's what Guo Jing will do". _The man is Ma Fang, the famous military strategist of Kublai.

_"Guo Jing" _Ma continues _"will most likely send a small team of pugilists to burn the Mongol navy."_

_"But how can a few men burn an entire navy?" _Wu asks.

Meanwhile, another man enters the room and answers _"The Chinese have weapons made of gunpowder, which can set an entire fleet on fire". _The man is Cao Song, the other famous military strategist of the Khan.

_"If" _Cao says_ "the pugilists that Guo Jing sends use gunpowder weapons, like thundercrash bombs, they may be able to burn our entire navy."_

_"Then" _Wu replies_ "I should send orders that all troops should be on high alert." _

_"That will not be enough." _Marco says, disappointed and confused over what to do.

_"Then, what should we do?"_

_"We should send an able pugilist to intercept them."_

_"Who?"_

As Wu and Marco discuss, Akiramou, with his Katana sword in his hands, enters the room.

_"Me!" _Akiramou shouts. _"I shall crush them!"_

_"Good!" _Wu, laughing, replies. _"Go and make sure that all of the pugilists that Guo Jing will send will be killed."_


	12. Part 12

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 12:**

_Five days later, outside of Changsha_

Liu Yao, Polu and a 200 men strong cavalry force ride towards Changsha. When they reach the outskirts of the city, they find Yei Wang, in command of 20,000 men proudly holding countless war banners and spears in their hands and shouting, waiting for them. Behind them, they see the magnificent and rich beyond imaginations city of Changsha. With huge stone walls and a huge population, it is of no surprise that Yei Wang chose this city as his base of power. Seeing so many men, Polu's bodyguard, Cheng, a young sturdy muscular man in a white armor, is confused.

_"Sir, why does he have so many soldiers to meet us?" _he asks. _"Watch out for any trick from this guy."_

_"Do not worry." _Polu replies._ "Yei is just trying to show his power and might to us in order to amaze us and instill fear in us. I do not believe that he would dare to harm a Minister of his Imperial Majesty." _

When Liu, Polu and Cheng come close to Yei, they dismount and go to meet him in person. Yei is a tall middle aged man, with many war scars in his face, and wearing a black chainmail armour and an iron helmet. In his belt, which is decorated with precious gems and is made of gold, he has a long golden sword hanging. His breastplate had diamonds on it and has the painting of a red dragon in the middle. Yei's armour shows how rich and powerful he is. Yei embraces Liu.

_"Brother Liu!" _With an excited and happy voice Yei shouts. _"How are you doing?"_

Liu laughs for a few seconds and then replies.

_"Brother Yei, I am all right. What about yourself? I see that you have become quite rich and poweful."_

_"Brother Liu, if someone deserves riches and glory, then it is you, not me! If you were in my position, you would have carved out an Empire out of this province. I remember when we both studied under the same teacher. Despite the fact that you were only twelve years old while I was twenty-three, you were far more intelligent than me. You were able to learn quickly many strategies and memorize tens of books of military strategy. When you became twenty, your talents deeply impressed the King of Dali and despite the fact that you were not descended from a noble family, he made you his chief military adviser. With your brilliant military and political strategies, you were able to expand the influence of Dali, secure alliance with the Song Empire and defeat Kublai's Mongol army. You even led an offensive into Mongol territory and humiliated the until then unstoppable Mongol military machine. It is a shame that you have not gained the power and riches that you deserve."_

_"If I was so brilliant, brother Yei, why did I not manage to gain power and riches, while you managed to gain both?"_

_"Well, firstly, I come from a noble family and my father was an important minister with many connections in this area. So, I was appointed Governor of Hunan and I begun slowly building my power base, thanks to the support of the aristocracy and the generals of the area, who had connections with my father. I was able to expand my military power, gain the favor of important ministers of the Emperor and increase trade in the area. Also, when I had gained enough influence in the area to be able to stand on my own, I exterminated the most powerful noble families. So, I gained the riches and power that I have today. You, on the other hand, were not from a noble family and in order to gain power, you had to rely on your talents alone."_

_"Correct!" _Liu shouts impressed and happy at Yei's thoughts. _"You show great ability to understand situations. You deserve my admiration, brother Yei."_

_"I deserve no such praise, brother Liu. Anyway, what caused you not to gain power, despite your many talents, is exactly that you are a very talented man. Your genius made the other ministers of the King of Dali jealous. That is one of the main reasons you lost your power."_

_"That's right. You impress, brother Yei."_

_"Well, an other reason, if it is true, is that you did what every wise politician under an Emperor or King refrains from doing: fall in love with the favorite concubine of his Sovereign. I do not believe that you ____could _actually make such mistake. It is most likely that the rumors are false. "

_"Why do you say that?"_

_"Because, firstly, you are a political genius, and so you would never make such mistake. Secondly, those who know you well know that you are not interested in women. Instead, you spend your free time studying books on military strategy and composing poems. I, who have known you for many years, know of this, and so I cannot believe such rumors. Those rumors were most likely the construction of ministers who were hostile to you and wanted to turn the King against you. It is a pity that the King of Dali could believe such rumors and banish a talent such as you. Even if the rumors were true, he should not have banished such a genius. For the shake of a woman, he paved the way for the destruction of his Kingdom. What an incapable ruler!"_

_"Indeed. But now, brother Yei, we should talk of the present and the future, and not of the past. The young man who is here with me is the Grant Imperial Secretary of the Treasury and the sworn brother of the Ninth Prince, his Excellency Polu. He came here on his Imperial Majesty's behalf."_

_"So," _Yei says while looking at Polu_. "You bring an Imperial Decree?" _

_"Yes, Governor Yei." _Polu replies.

_"Good! Your excellency, come to my office."_

And so, Polu and Liu follow Yei to his office. When they arrive there, they sit on two wooden tables prepared for them. In top of those tables, there are several dishes, including rice and roast chicken, as well a cup of wine. Yei sits on a table that is situated in the middle of the office. The entire room is wooden and not much decorated, in contrast to the much decorated armor of Yei and his impressive welcome in the gates of the city. It shows that despite the extravagance which Yei shows off in order to amaze foreign emissaries, he is a very austere man in his private life.

After drinking for half an hour, Polu gets up and comes close to Yei. Yei, who understands that Polu is going to read the Imperial Decree, he bows before Polu, kowtows three times and shouts _"Long live, his Majesty, long live! ____Long live, his Majesty, long live! ______Long live, his Majesty, long live! Long live, long live, long live!_"

Polu then starts to read the Imperial Decree, which is made of precious silk. _"We, the Imperial Majesty Duzong, thus decree: Knowing of the many years of loyal service of Governor Yei of Hunan to the court and his many contributions to the court and Our Imperial Majesty, we thus give the title of Minister and the command of the Imperial Cavalry, as well as the title of General who Defends and Pacifies Hunan, to Governor Yei."_

_"So, do you accept the Imperial Decree?" _Polu asks after finishing reading the decree.

_"Yes! __Long live, his Majesty, long live! ____Long live, his Majesty, long live! ______Long live, his Majesty, long live! Long live, long live, long live!_" Yei replies.

Yei then rises and offers a toast to Liu and Polu. After drinking for a few minutes, Liu knows that it is the right time to try and persuade Yei to send troops to defend Xiangyang against the Mongols.

_"Brother Yei." _Liu says. _"I want to give you an advise."_

_"What is it, brother Liu?" _Yei asks, although he has already speculated what Liu will ask him to do.

_"As you know, the Mongols are invading our homeland. We have to defend the nation and save our people from enslavement. Guo Jing and Marshall Lü defend the city. You should send an army to reinforce them and do your duty to the country. If you do this, then you will become a national hero and the nation shall reward you. You will gain fame and glory and your name shall go down in history."_

_"Brother Liu, you know me very well. Such rhetoric will not persuade me. Say what you want to say openly. Let the sweet talks and the nationalist rhetoric for other men."_

_"Very well, to speak in practical terms, I offer you the four Southern __commanderies of Hubei. That is half the province. You have those land in your mind for a long, long time."  
_

_"Good. Now you are speaking right."_

_"Also, if Xiangyang falls, the defense of the Song Empire shall collapse and the Mongols will move into Hunan. Do you expect to keep your independence and power if the Mongols invade? Do you think that you can just surrender and continue your reign? You are so powerful only because the Song court is unable to impose itself on the local Governors. However, even if the Mongols allow you to keep your position as Governor, will you have such independence with an able ruler like Kublai Khan in the throne and with a huge army ready to destroy those who usurp royal powers? You have seen how this barbarian from the West, Marco Polo, during his journeys, executed Governors who had gained independence like you. Also, how do you expect to resist and fight off militarily the Mongols with your small, compared to to the Mongol horde, army? If Xiangyang falls, then you lands will be open to a Mongol invasion and you will not be able to resist them. From a powerful Warlord, you will become a minor Governor of a vast Empire or, even worse, die trying to resist the Mongol army."_

_"Good! Good!" _Yei says while clapping and laughing. _"Brother Liu, your rhetoric is excellent."_

_"Thank you for your praise, brother. An other reason why you should help in the defence of Xiangyang is that if the defense is successful, then you shall be immensely rewarded by the Imperial court and you will gain much influence. Also, as a war hero, you will get the love of the people, thus becoming the most powerful Warlord in China and you will be able to achieve your royal ambitions."  
_

_"Good reasoning. I accept your offer. But how shall we cement our alliance?"_

_"Well." _Liu answers while looking at Polu. _"You have a daughter, named Lihua, which is marriageable age, is very beautiful and has great swordsmanship as well as being able in poetry and Confucian classics. She would be a great match to his Excellency, Polu. Polu, except for being a good looking young man, is also a high ranking Minister of the Imperial Court, has considerable influence in the court and is also a noted scholar and poet. If you agree to this marriage, then the houses of Yei and Guo shall be united and that would cement the alliance."_

_"Brother Liu, it seems that you have prepared this all along. That's why you brought his Excellency here." _Yei laughs. _"Well, as you must know, I love my daughter very much. I will not decide her marriage myself. I cannot force her to marry someone who she doesn't love. I will have her to meet Polu, and of she likes him, good. If not, then I cannot force her."_

_"Very well. Now, brother Yei, please excuse us. We should go and rest."_

_"Of course! Of course! I have already prepared your rooms in the guesthouse."_

_A few hours later, Liu's room_

A few hours later, Polu visits Liu's room to talk with him about the marriage. When he knocks the door, Liu greets him with a smile in his face, but at the same time, he seems a bit nervous.

_"Polu" _Liu says. _"I need to talk to you about the marriage."_

_"That's what I wanted to talk with you." _Liu answers.

_"Yei loves his daughter very much and she has huge influence on him. Especially since his wife died. So, you have to gain her love. Put all your charm and try to make her fall for you. If you cannot marry her, then I worry about the future of the alliance and if we are able to control Yei. Gaining his daughter's love is vital in the security of Xiangyang and could help immensely in the war against the Mongols."_

_"I know about this. That's why I wanted to ask you if you know anything about her. What type of man she likes?"_

_"Well, I heard some rumors, which I do not know if they are true, that she likes military men skilled in martial arts. But this is just a rumor."_

_"But this is the completely opposite to me. I am a civil officer and know nothing at all about martial arts!" _Polu, with anger and defeatism, shouts.

_"I know! That's why I am nervous. But do not worry, it might just be rumors. Remember, Xiangyang depends on you. You must be confident and have charm."_

_"Well, I know about this. Do you know how many women of noble families have fallen from me in the capital? But I worry a lot right now, because of the importance of my mission."  
_

_"Do not worry, and try your best."_

_"I will. By the way, do you have any advise?"_

_"No. As Yei said, I am not interested in women and so I do not have enough experience about this matter."_

_"Have you really not fallen in love with a girl?"_

_"No. I prefer reading books of military strategy and composing poems than wasting my time with women. So far, I have not met a woman that has been able to gain my interest."_

_"But you are already in your late thirties."_

_"I know. But, I guess, I will never be able to find a woman that will gain my interest."_


	13. Part 13

**The Heroes of Xiangyang**

**Part 13:**

_Meanwhile_, _in Hanjin_

Five days have passed since Wang and Yelü Qi begun their journey to Hanjin along with ten other able pugilists. Now, night has fallen over the coastal city and the darkness brings a perfect opportunity for the planned attack. Inside the city, eight men dressed in Mongol uniform walk on one of the empty and silent roads of the city and head towards a small wooden house that is in a terrible condition and seems abandoned. Once they come outside the house, one of them knocks the wooden door of the house, that is ready to collapse, five times. A man, also dressed in Mongol uniform, opens the door and welcomes them inside. That man is Wang. Inside the eight men find Yelü Qi sitting on a table and drinking some wine along with two other men, who are also dressed in Mongol uniform. The eight men bow before Yelü and one of them decides to report what they found out.

_"Commander"_ the man says. _"We have carefully inspected the port. The part of the port which we found that it had the weakest defence is the eastern part. The central and western parts of the port are too well guarded to try to infiltrate. In my personal opinion, we should try to infiltrate in the eastern part of the port and burn the ships around the flagship 'Wolf'."_

_"Does everyone agree with Xuechi's (the man's name) proposal?" _Yelü asks.

Everyone shouts, with one voice, _"We agree!"_

_"Good." _Yelü says, delighted that they have all reached a common decision. _"When shall we begin the attack?"_

_"Now!" _Wang answers._ "I have got information that in two days, the Mongol Navy shall leave the port. So, we have to act fast and decisive." _

_"Very well." _Yelü replies. _"Men, prepare for an attack."_

_An hour later, in the eastern part of Hanjin's port_

Yelü, Wang and their ten men, of which seven of them carry bags with thundercrash bombs, use the cover of night and their Mongol uniforms to infiltrate the eastern port. As they approach the huge flagship "Wolf", three Mongol guards approach them. One of them, who walks in front of the other two, thus showing that he is their superior, approaches Wang and pulls out his sword.

_"What business do you have here?" _the Mongol guard asks. _"Do you have official papers?"_

Instead of answering, Wang kicks the guard on the head, before he can react and use his sword. The kick is very strong and breaks the man's head. Wang then kicks twice the guard's stomach, finishing him off. Meanwhile, Wang's men throw daggers at the other two Mongol guards, killing them. Yelü then has Wang and his men to take the three bodies and throw them on the sea. Once they have finished with the dead bodies, Wang and other three men enter inside the flagship 'Wolf' and put a bag filled with thundercrash bombs. In the process, they silently kill five Mongol sailors who are on their way and throw their bodies on the sea. Once they have finished with their task of putting the bombs on the ship, they get out of it.

_"We have finished our task." _Wang says to Yelü.

_"Everyone, listen to me." _Yelü replies. _"Each of you take a bag of thundercrash bombs and put them on nearby ships. Once the task is complete, we will meet again here. Remember, you must not take too much time. We have only half an hour."_

Everyone, quietly, takes a bag with thundercrash bombs and sets forth for his mission. Wang, who cannot help but feel that something is not right, heads towards a ship with the name 'Dragon'. There, he finds ten men guarding the entrance of the ship. Wang is not the one who will try to sneak through or use silent ways to kill his enemy. Instead, he charges at the enemy and quickly uses the 'Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms' on the Mongol soldiers. A huge red Dragon comes out of Wang's palms and hits with immense power the ten Mongols and throws them on the water. As the Mongols try to swim back to the port, and before they can shout for help, Wang, with fast movements, throws daggers at the men, killing all of them. He then enters the ship.

As Wang enters the ship, a tall fat Mongol sailor comes toward him, most likely to ask him what he is doing. Wang uses the fact that the sailor does not know that he is an enemy to his advantage and quickly pulls out a long sword and beheads the man. Three other sailors, hearing the noise, come towards Wang, but he kills them before they can understand what is happening. He then places some thundercrash bombs and leaves the ship.

Meanwhile, Xuechi approaches an other Mongol ship. Xuechi prefers more subtle approaches to complete his task than Wang. He throws a small bomb that releases poison gas in front of the ship, killing the five Mongol guards. He then sneaks into the ship and without anyone seeing him, he places the bombs. The other men use more or less the same tactics as Wang and Xuechi, and they soon have placed bombs in more than one hundred ships.

_Half an hour later_

After half an hour, all of the pugilists return outside the flagship 'Wolf', their meeting point. Yelü is ready to throw a thundercrash bomb at the ship, thus beginning a chained reaction which would lead to the destruction of the Mongol navy, but the pugilists suddenly hear a laugh. Suddenly, a blind Japanese man appears, accompanied with tens of Mongol archers and spearmen. At the same time, Mongol spearmen come out of the flagship 'Wolf'. The Japanese man is the famous pugilist Akiramou, who is working for the Mongols. Yelü and his men understand that they have been ambushed. As they pull out their swords and prepare for a fight to the death, Akiramou laughs and claps.

_"You thought that your plan could have any chance of success?" _Akiramou, laughing and clapping, asks. _"Let me tell you something: I knew all along that you would come here. That's why I had lowered the defense in the eastern part of the port. To lure you here. I also allowed you to place the bombs in order to give you a false sense of security and to gather the troops here to ambush you. Your bombs inside 'Wolf' have been removed and as we speak, my soldiers remove and your other bombs. Now that I have revealed to you my brilliant masterplan, I can kill you!"_

Akiramou then turns towards his men and shouts _"Charge!"_

The Mongol archers fire hundreds of arrows, many of them flaming, at the few but heroic pugilists, who use their swords to try and deflect the arrows. However, more than six of the twelve men die from the attack of the archers. The Mongol spearmen then attack Wang, Yelü and their remaining four men. However, the few heroes resist valiantly the attack, despite being outnumbered, and kill as many enemies as possible. Yelü slashes with his sword countless Mongol soldiers while Wang uses his 'Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms' to kill one Mongol soldier after the other. The other four men fight as bravely as their leaders and also kill many Mongols. The dead bodies of the Mongol soldiers start to form a huge pile. But the heroism of the few patriots is not enough to fight off the entire Mongol army and soon, one after the other, they are killed. After a few more minutes, only Xuechi, Wang and Yelü remain alive. Everything seems lost, but, as the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. Xuechi gets in front of some Mongol archers ready to fire flaming arrows and self-immolates himself. He then runs towards one of the Mongol ships, dodges the swords of more than thirty Mongol soldiers, jumps on the ship and goes near to one of the thundercrash bombs that had not been removed yet by the Mongol soldiers, setting it on fire. This begins a chained reaction as the huge explosion of the bomb causes the fire to spread in nearby ships, which all have thundercrash bombs, which causes them to explode, thus spreading the fire to nearby ships and so on. The huge explosion gives Wang and Yelü the distraction needed to try and escape the Mongol soldiers. As the two men run away of the port, Akiramou chases them. Soon, the three of them get out of the city, which is on fire, as the fire spread from the ships to the port and then to the city itself. Yelü pushes Wang away and shouts _"Leave! I will fight off the Japanese scum!"_

_"No!" _Wang replies._ "How can I face teacher if something happens to you?"_

_"You worry too much! Leave!"_

Wang has no choice, and with tears in his eyes, he leaves. Yelü then takes out the Dog-Beating Stick, the symbol of the Beggar's sect, and waits for Akiramou. Indeed, a few moments later, Akiramou arrives. He pulls out his Katana Sword and takes a defensive stance. Akiramou's Katana sword has a length of 73 cm (28 1⁄2 in). Yelü also takes a defensive stance. For a few minutes, neither Akiramou nor Yelü attack. Akiramou, seeing that Yelü is not attacking, and possibly because he wants to lure him into attacking, puts his Katana Sword back to his belt and waits for Yelü to attack unarmed. Yelü at first does not take the bait. But then, suddenly, Yelü lets out a scream and charges at Akiramou. Yelü's face is almost red with anger and he shows his anger in his attack. Akiramou, on the other hand, stays calm. When the Dog-Beating Stick is almost ready to hit his face, he pulls out his Katana, with great speed but also staying calm, and cuts off Yelü's right hand. The Dog-Beating Stick, with the blood of it's holder painting it red, falls on the ground. Yelü, screaming in pain, runs away. Akiramou decides not to chase him. He has already defeated him. He does not wish to bother himself with a defeated enemy when the entire Mongol navy is on fire. So, he goes back to the city and tries to put out the fire.

_Two days later, __Xinye, office of General Wu_

After two days of traveling day and night, Akiramou arrives at the office of General Wu, in order to report himself his failure to protect the Mongol navy from the attack. The attack costed the Mongol navy 1,000 of it's 5,000 ships and the lives of 12,000 Marines. The burning of the Mongol navy in Hanjin is a great loss for the Mongols, because, even thought they still outnumber the Chinese in sea by 4 to 1, it is a great psychological victory for the Song, it lowers the morale of the Mongol army and brings General Wu to a difficult position, as he will have to inform the Great Khan that he has lost 1/5 of his navy even before the first naval battle. Akiramou enters in the office of General Wu, and finds Wu, who is sitting on a wooden office which has many maps and other papers on it, Marco Polo, Cao Song, Ma Fang and Arikhgiya waiting for him. He bows before those men and calmly, without fearing death, says: _"My General, I have failed you. I await my punishment."_

Wu hits his fist on his wooden office and shouts _"Your failure has cost us 1/5 of our navy! For this failure, you shall be executed!"_

As the Mongol guards are ready to enter the office and execute Akiramou by beheading, Marco Polo intervenes. _"General" _Marco says _"while the failure of Akiramou is grave, he is still very useful to us, since he has some of the best martial skills in all of the world. He was able to cut off _ _Yelü's arm with just one attack, something that is a great achievement considering that __Yelü is known as a very able pugilist and he is the leader of the Beggar's sect. So, I would ask you to give him one more chance."  
_

Before Wu can reply, Cao also decides to speak up for Akiramou. _"My lord" _he says _"the __ships have been lost and executing Akiramou will not bring them back. Do you want to lose a very able pugilist after losing such a huge number of ships?"_

_"Indeed." _Ma replies. _"Guo Jing has many pugilists under his control and he shall use them to fight off our army. We need to have a very able pugilist if we are to succeed in taking over Xiangyang. So, my lord, please pardon Akiramou for his failure."_

Arikhgiya, who usually supports the execution of those who fail their duties, also shows sympathy for Akiramou. _"General, Akiramou is a very brave and skilled man. We need such men. As you know, I am a great supporter of military discipline and I am always the first to propose the execution of those who fail in their duties. But the arguments that Marco, Cao and Ma have made are correct and you should consider them."_

Wu, after hearing all those arguments, stays silent for a moment and then announces his decision: _"After hearing all of you, I have decided to spare Akiramou. But he will have to make up for his failure to protect our navy by killing off as many Chinese pugilists as possible."_

_"Thank you, my lord!" _Akiramou, Cao, Ma and Arikhgiya say with one voice.


End file.
